1a.m. Tour Tour New Zealand
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Arriving in Christchurch was an evidently
refreshing outlook, even from the moments of leaving the airport; fresh weather,
beautiful scenery, and great people; all the prerequisites for a great trip.
Rallying the people in a laidback country took slightly a little more effort
than we were normally used to; going campuses ourselves to promote our own
concert, how often does that happen?
Nevertheless it was an awesome
experience chatting to the locals, some foreign students, and definitely some
cool campus ministers. Our first workshop went as usual, the ideas came through.
It is odd to note, however, that the kiwis down south don't usually worship with
contemporary music, but with R n' b.
The folks at Christchurch were
really good in their organization and punctuality. Go to bed early, wake up
early; a way of life. Our first worship concert took stage; and by God's grace
and miracle we actually had the place packed with people. It was definitely
encouraging to see students from the campuses we were at usher in excitedly.
However, of all the things to note about what occurred, it was the obvious
liberation of the people, dancing, laughing, shouts of praise; apparently
something that's a little harder to come by in this part of the country. It was
great.
We spent the next few days in New
Zealand on a road trip further south. We visited what must have been the most
beautiful views, Lake Tekapo, Queenstown, and even Puzzle World!
Just a few hundered miles up
though, Auckland stands to be an extremely different change of pace; a hustling
city with far fewer trees and scenic locations :). That's not necessarily bad,
the ‘Aucklanders' are the warmest mix of people; pacific islanders, kiwis,
Asians; Auckland seems to have every nation of the world in their church. The
most notable hosts were of course though, the homes of whom which we stayed;
Alfred, Kelly, Pastor John and Elaine.
We kicked off our Auckland tour
with a street concert right in the middle of the city square. Other than the
fact we had never played on the streets, and that we had never done an acoustic
set before, and that we had no real idea what we were dong, it was something we
were totally used to. God came through, we aren't the most skilled, nor the best
entertainers, but the city street was definitely awed in worship that
night.
The next day followed up with a
workshop and our second concert. Of all our expectations, this concert totally
rocked! The tangibility of God heightened, lengthened, lifted us powerfully;
there aren't really words to describe it when you feel Him all around you and
within you. People were awestruck. People got saved, people were on their knees,
people were crying. Of the things to remember that night, were the famous words
by Pastor John "I now have something extra to add to my favorite things about
Malaysia; Nasi Lemak, Mee Goreng, and 1a.m.! Malaysians should be
proud.
We finished off our tour with
praise and worship at North shore the next morning. Once again the presence of
God tore through the roof. It has to be God when leaders down in the
congregation start comparing us with Hillsongs :) New Zealand received new zeal (no pun intended), a ‘Sold Out' message, and a liberation only God can give. We ministered and were greatly ministered to. It is truly nothing short of a miracle to be able to experience God wherever you go in this world, especially in a place so different and so far from home. Of all the things we gave, we can only say that we were grateful we received even more. Beyond all expectations, we did take something home, a contract with the biggest music distributor in New Zealand, world famous Parachute Music. Our albums began distribution nation-wide August 2007. A hallmark in 1a.m. |
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