December - January Update!

Welcome to my December - January update! In this update, I'll talk about New Zealand outreach, Vanuatu lectures, the end of the lecture phase, and our week of outreach in Vanuatu.

Our school schedule looked different this quarter, starting with 8 weeks of NZ lectures, 2 weeks of NZ outreach, 2 weeks of NZ lectures, and 2 weeks of lectures in Vanuatu, followed by the remaining 5 weeks of outreach. While there was a bit of back-and-forth between lectures and outreach, it was a good time to grow as an outreach team and as a school as we navigated the schedule.

New Zealand Outreach - Dec 18th to Dec 29th

Our New Zealand outreach was split into two weeks, with Christmas break in the middle. Our first week, we headed to Northland (NZ) to a small town on the west coast called Dargaville. We had Christmas Break on base and then spent three days serving the local community of Tauranga.

Dargaville

During our first two days in Dargavilli, we spent time practically serving the church and a couple from the congregation. A highlight for the team was getting to pour concrete for Betty and Steve's house. It was amazing to see the impact of the willingness that the team brought, and beautiful to see how God has answered their prayers as they walk in faith that He will use the house to bless the community.

On Thursday we had the chance to hang out with a youth group (called "Rock Solid") all day at the Kai Iwi lakes. Just showing up for the kids, being interested in their lives and interests, swimming with them for hours and hours, playing soccer and cricket, it all showed the love of Jesus. We didn't need to preach to these kids, or tell them right from wrong - just deciding to be intentional and relational was enough to reach them.

Friday was a great end to our first week of outreach. Around lunchtime, we set up a free sausage sizzle in the town skate park/playground. The goal was to bless the community and open doors to conversations about why we were here in Dargaville. I ended up having an amazing interaction with a Dargaille local (look for a blog post titled "The One" for an in-depth retelling of what happened) after having doubts about the afternoon. In the evening we got the chance to put on a youth event for a few local youth groups - the turnout was amazing and we got the opportunity to pray for the kids and build relationships with them. The team performed a skit, led worship, shared testimonies, and served the kids by offering to pray for those who wanted. I was so proud of how the team stepped up, and the night was a highlight for all of us!

working at Betty and Steve's

We headed back to Marine Reach on the 23rd of December and spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day resting and celebrating the birth of our Savior. I'm always missing home a little extra during the holidays, so I tried to do some of our family traditions even though I was in New Zealand. This included baking monkey bread, wearing Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve, and making cake pops for New Year's!

Tauranga

The team jumped back into outreach on the 27th. For our second week of ministry, we stayed local in Tauranga and got involved with several different projects. On our first day, we cleaned a lodge that is used for retreats and is run as a business for ministry. In the afternoon, our contact for the week gave us a teaching on the oppression of women and how to enter into justice prayer Biblically. She opened up the conversation around topics that are usually 'taboo'. NZ has a high rate of domestic violence against women, and we had the opportunity to prayer walk around Tauranga City and pray for protection and justice over women.

Our second day of outreach in Tauranga consisted of deep cleaning an Op Shop (or thrift store) run by a local church, and then receiving a teaching about the topic of abortion in NZ, and what the Bible says about the topic. We looked at worldly views of abortion and life and entered into Justice Prayer for women, families, and babies in New Zealand.

Street Help

Our third day of outreach looked a bit different from our other days of outreach. We used the morning to rest and do some team debriefing, and our day of outreach started at 5 PM. We went and partnered with "Street Help", a ministry that's been running in Tauranga for more than 20 years. Street Help distributes hot food and drinks to people 'sleeping rough' and to 'at-risk' youth in the community. When the night gets a bit later, often the teams will move into the party scene in Tauranga, providing a safe presence, opening doors to the conversation about the gospel, and showing the gentle and practical love of Jesus. We started the night by driving around Tauranga in the Street Help van and handing out hot pies and warm drinks to people living in their cars or tents. We had the chance to talk with people and pray for them by name. When it got later in the night, we relocated to the party scene and had so many opportunities to talk with young people about the gospel.

We ran out of pies pretty early into the night (around midnight) but we decided to stop by another area of town briefly before wrapping up. God had given me a picture of one of the bars located in this section of the city at the beginning of the night. As soon as we parked, we saw a girl come out of the same bar and wander across the street. She came towards the van and approached us but was non-verbal and confused, and we suspected that she had been drugged. She was too out of it to make sense of the situation or recognize that she could be in danger. The bouncer of the bar told us that some random guys had already tried to get her in a car. A few of our team members stayed close to her and tried to get a home address out of her. Two guys with seemingly good intentions began to hang around and thank us for helping, saying that they were grateful for the presence of Street Help. Eventually, their true intentions were revealed and we told them off. They became verbally aggressive and threatening, and our contact called the police. The situation resolved itself when the girl was finally able to give her address to a taxi. After the guys continued to make threats, we jumped in the van and headed back to the Street Help base to debrief the night.

For me, the situation was initially frustrating. I knew that things like this happened, but I had never seen it up close. I was angry that she was so vulnerable and that people had tried to take advantage of her. Then, God revealed to me his heart. He showed me that he cared for the One, enough to send a team of ten to protect her and keep her safe. He said that even though things like this happen with worse outcomes, he is still active in His protection of his children. Two days before, as we had walked along the same street and prayed for the protection of women within the party scene, God urged me to pray into the inefficiency of the date rape drug. My prayer-walking partners prayed into the presence of people with good and true intentions. Through this situation with Street Help, God showed his plan, his involvement, and his desire to use us and answer prayers. Our night with Street Help was a highlight for the entire team, and we saw God's heart working through all of us.

Vanuatu

Vanuatu is a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands that stretch 1,300 kilometers. Marine Reach has a sister ministry called the Family Care Center, and it's located on Efate, home of Vanuatu's capital city, Port Vila. The FCC is committed to bringing free and affordable healthcare to the locals of Port Vila, Efate, and Vanuatu as a whole.

Lectures

The entire DTS was able to travel to Vanuatu and stay at the FCC for our last two weeks of lectures. We were welcomed the first week with a meal of local food called 'lap lap soso', and a ceremony in which the FCC staff gave each of us a flower garland to welcome us to Vanuatu. Our first week we spent in lectures, learning about our God-given identity. In our second week, we got to take a Bislama language course to prepare for outreach and to learn more about Nivanuatu culture and way of life. We were in the classroom for three days learning the language, and on the fourth day, we had the chance to go to a small island and learn how to make lap lap (local food) and enjoy the beautiful beach while practicing our Bislama. During our two weeks of lectures, we also had the opportunity to explore Port Vila and learn more about the way of life in this beautiful country. It was incredibly hot during our stay, with temperatures usually sitting around 90° F (30° C) with humidity of around 85%. I was grateful to have grown up in extreme heat during the summers, but I still had to adjust to the sheer amount of sweat one produces in a day.

Nguna Outreach

After our final weeks of lectures, the team jumped into a week of outreach in Vanuatu. We headed off to Nguna, an island just north of Efate. After an hour-and-a-half truck ride, a half-hour boat ride, and a 20-minute truck ride up the island, we arrived in Matoa, a village located about halfway up the height of Nguna. We stayed in Matoa for a total of 7 days (five nights).

Matoa is a village of around 17 inhabited houses, with a population of around 100. We partnered with the pastor of the village and a councilwoman by the name of Anabelle. Anabelle hosted us in the community center - two open-air huts that serve as the center of the village - a meeting place, worship place, and hosting place. We slept in one of the huts and cooked and ate in the other. On the day we arrived, there was a ceremony and dinner in which our team was officially welcomed into the village. There was an exchange of speeches, gifts, and songs. After the ceremony, we enjoyed dinner cooked by the mamas of the village and then turned in for the night, tucking in under our mosquito nets and enjoying the coolness of the sea breeze.

Our week in Matoa was slower-paced than a typical week of outreach. There was a lot of resting in the hottest part of the afternoon, going to bed when the sun went down, and not having a concrete plan for each day. On Sunday we went to church (held in our cooking/eating pavilion) and had the opportunity to encourage some of the kids in Bislama. Sunday afternoon was spent hanging out with the kids and building relationships with them. The kids were patient as we tried to speak and understand Bislama, and were full of questions that we tried our very best to understand. It was simple and beautiful to see the team connecting with the kids through games and activities, even though the language barrier provided some challenges. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday consisted of going house to house and praying for families by name, tidying the village and raking leaves, hiking to the top of the island, and playing with the kids every chance we got. Thursday we had the chance to clean and organize two classrooms in the primary school located a village away from Matoa.

Thursday was also our last evening in Matoa, so the locals put on another ceremony to thank us and say goodbye to the team. Hospitality is something very important in Vanuatu, and that's something we witnessed when we stayed in Matoa. The ceremony started with speeches of thanks by the pastor and Anabelle. Then, the team had a chance to respond. We had prepared a simple song to give each of the team members a chance to thank the community for something specific. After we sang the song, my co-leader Johnny thanked the pastor and the chief for welcoming us and giving us opportunities to serve the community. I then had the chance to thank Anabelle and the mamas for their hospitality and for caring for us. The ceremony ended with the mamas gifting the girls of the team with mama's dresses (traditional island dresses worn by the mamas) and the men of the village gifting the guys on our team with island shirts. They closed by singing "The Blessing" over us and encouraging us as we went from Matoa. I was so impacted by their kindness, generosity, selflessness, and joy. They welcomed us as family and I left feeling like I had gained more insight on the character of God through the people of Matoa.

We wrapped up our week in Matoa and headed back to the FCC before heading on to our next outreach location.

Fundraising Report

And now it comes to my fundraising report :). I'm so grateful for the continued support of my friends, family, and church back home. Seeing God provide for me has consistently left me in awe and gratitude! Every time I start to doubt that I'll have enough or doubt that He will provide, provision shows up and my faith is grown even more.

I have two main upcoming costs that I believe God will provide for. These include:

Staff Fees for March and April - $370 USD for each month

Staff fees cover my boarding costs at Marine Reach - this includes room and board, laundry, wifi, and a town trip each week.

Outreach Fees for January Outreach - $740 - $1,700 USD

Outreach Fees cover the cost of going on outreach as a staff member - this includes flights, room and board, and transportation.

If you feel led to support me in any of these areas, you can choose the option that works best for you.

GiveSendGo

https://www.givesendgo.com/sierrasmission

Paypal

Sierra Adams

sc08adams@gmail.com

Check or Cash

Sierra Adams

1 Muddy Rd

Antelope OR, 97001