ch...ch...ch...changing

Hello once again, I am so sorry for the mega long time in between this post and my last one, I feel really bad but now I have lots to tell you about.
Well since I last spoke to you all I have been doing all these different things:
Organising a helping run a Scripture Union Training event
Helping at a new Youth Group in a place called Huntly
Watching the rugby … all the games that were on
Getting into a fight… I will explain

With Warwick, one of the people who I work with, we ran a training weekend at one of the horse camp venues. So for like two weeks running up to it I was basically flat out trying to sort out programmes, menus, songs… all that kind of stuff but it was all really good fun. So the weekend was the one just past I think and I am still pretty tired after it all, just trying to take it a bit easier now but it is hard when I enjoy the work so much I just want to be doing something all the time.
Like 2 or 3 weeks ago, Judy and I went along to the youth group in Huntly, which is like 30min from Hamilton. It was pretty awesome there and they were really welcoming and cool. Huntly is not the nicest place to live, there is a lot of gang stuff that goes on and the youth there basically roam the streets at night and be “bad” but they are really just miss guided. So on a Wednesday night one of the churches runs a fun sort of youth group with a short message and stuff. It is pretty awesome and I heard the phrase “the gospel is caught not taught”. I was thinking how right that was, sure it is good to get some decent teaching on the gospel and how it works but the gospel message should be displayed in our lives. So they asked me along to be a regular leader which I was stoked about and go along ever week now. I also heard the phrase there (which is used quite a lot when talking about Huntly) “oh don’t fall in, it’s a bit of a hole”, I laughed.
Ok so we all know New Zealand have been tearing through west Europe and destroying any team they want and I have been forced (I am actually quite happy to) to watch all these matches. This means sometimes getting up at like 5am to see a match before people start work or school and cheer on the All Blacks. Then the other day when we were watching the league final between NZ and Auzzies there was an advert for Scotland Versus Australia in union. Some friends and I watched that and we all supported Scotland and I was so chuffed we scored first but pretty sad we lost. Aw well I was glad they supported Scotland.
Lastly in my list was that last Thursday night I was renting a video so I could just chill and relax before the training weekend and went to the local mall called Chartwell. On the way in there were some people shouting at each other and I just skirted round them with out looking at them, I got my money from the machine and then on my way out two Maori guys grabbed this white guy and threw him to the floor and started kicking him really hard, like in the face and stuff. The security guard came out and tried to tackle one of the guys but he kind of bounced off so I thought I better do something being the only other guy around. I said something really stupid like “oh please don’t do that, you might hurt him” and then got punched in the face (it really hurt and still does) and then that guy went back to kicking the guy, so I did the only thing I could, I rugby tackled him (being in NZ you think that he could take a tackle) turns out he wasn’t ready and went flying, same time the security guard had got up and had tackled the other guy properly this time and fight was over, white guy ran away and Maori guys ran after, police were called and security guard thanked me and I went and rented ‘she’s the man’ and we watched it and laughed.

Anyway I better get on this other things so I will update the Blog soon

God Bless
Andrew

Couch steal

Ok people of the world, new information on the inner workings of the youth group I am part of – chapel hill, radiator youth.

So the youth group I help out at and am part of is awesome and has some really awesome people at it. it has about 20 regular attendees and 30 on a Saturday night. It runs a bible study type thing on a Sunday night instead of an evening service and it has Saturday night fun activity. Sunday also includes dinner, which is awesome. The Saturday just past I ran a Scottish night with highland games and haggis and irn-bru!!! We tossed the cabers, had a strong man event and even a battle or Culloden but the week before that we did something more fun than being Scottish… almost.
So basically the activity couch steal is about a team of people, like 5 or 6, getting a couch from one point to another by carrying it. Sounds easy, well then there are ‘spotters’ in cars and on bikes going around the area and if they see you with your couch and you are not sitting on it then they take one of your 10 lives away. Oh but there’s more, the distance we took ours was like 3km and we had a 4 person couch and 6 of us with 4 girls 2 guys. Furthermore (nice conjunction word) on the way back to the point (the church) we had to collect or buy stuff with the money we had paid at the start, which included; supper for the team, something with the Waikato colours on it (red, black and yellow – McDonalds box), a rugby shirt or ball (I was wearing my Scotland top), a pair of baby socks or gloves, a can of food for an offering, a raw egg… and so on. Each team got points for each item retrieved and points for being first or second or third back. All in all it was awesome fun and we basically had a ball carrying a couch around for 2 hours. Anyway now I must go and do some real work as much as I would like to say this is work it is not. So good day to you all.

God bless
Andrew