A Christmas Letter from Josh & Jill

New beginnings…. This has been a recurring theme that has been impressed upon our hearts over the past year. It was a new beginning when we welcomed a different team into Wellington. It was a new beginning as we celebrated the birth of our second son, Hudson David Felix. There were new beginnings as we started a fresh campus year, saw disciples take personal steps of faith as never before, and witnessed students decide to really follow Christ for the first time in their life. On a larger scale we have also seen new beginnings in both the United States and New Zealand as these two countries are experiencing a change in leadership. We’d be the first to admit that these beginnings are not necessarily easy, but we’ve also found that they do provide us with new opportunities to find joy, experience growth, and trust the Lord even more.

One specific story of a new beginning that we wanted to share with you is about a first-year student called Josh. Entering his studies at Victoria University, Josh knew it would be a year full of new experiences and new challenges. But Josh has one more particular challenge that set him apart from other first-year university students… he is bound to a wheelchair because of a disability he’s had since birth. During a club’s day event, Josh stopped by our Student Life table to fill out a ‘Tune In’ survey. When one of our staff followed up with him later, he expressed that he really didn’t want to be involved in any way with our group or even want hear the gospel message we wanted to share about.
Little did Josh expect that he would meet and become friends with Johnny and Ruth who lived on the same floor at his hostel (dorm). Johnny, Ruth, and even a few others who all lived with there with Josh were first-year students who had already gotten involved with Student Life. They had a desire to impact their university friends for Christ and so they invited Josh into our community. Despite his previous resistance, Josh was willing to give this “Christian Group” a second chance. As he found friendship, acceptance, encouragement, and people willing to go on a difficult spiritual journey with him, Josh made a decision to follow Christ.
For Josh, this year has been a new beginning. He still has many questions about what it means to live for God, but he has been committed to attending church and being around the Student Life community. He is also trying to study his Bible more and listen to input from other believers.

We want to give many more students like Josh the opportunity to hear about the amazing love of Jesus Christ so that they too can make a new beginning. As 2008 draws to a close, we remain thankful for your partnership in this ministry of reconciliation. Your prayers and gifts are making it possible for many students in Wellington and from around the world to hear the Gospel. Join with us in asking the Lord that 2009 will be a year of fruitful harvest and that many will find a new beginning… a new life through knowing Jesus Christ!

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6 NLT)
Warmest Regards, Josh & Jill

Water for Christmas

The following is a little piece my wife Jill wrote for our most recent newsletter:
Over the last year God has been deepening my heart for issues pertaining to “Social Justice”. I have several friends that have adopted kids from Africa and reading their Family Blogs has been “eye-opening” to say the least. As I have been studying the book of Isaiah God brought to my attention this verse: “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the orphan, plead the cause of the widow.” Isaiah 1:17. So, the Lord recently brought something across my path and I am very excited to be helping this Christmas to raise money to dig wells in Africa. Did you know that Americans spend $450 billion dollars a year at Christmas and it would only take $10 billion to solve the world’s water problem? Please visit: www.Water4Christmas.com and see what we are up to!
I really appreciate and admire Jill's heart for such things. Together, we think this is an awesome opportunity and possibly achievable in this generation... it just means we have to be less consumeristic over the Christmas season and more generous... crazy thought, huh? We also started a Facebook Group, Water for Christmas, that grew from around 50 to over 1,000 members in less than one week. We hope that those who join the group would be willing to give to this and provide clean water to people in Africa. A little bit from a whole lot of us can go a great distance! Hope you might want to join us too.

Looking Back & Looking Forward

In reviewing this past year, it is so awesome to see some of the ways that God has been at work amongst the staff and students of our movement. Just to give you, as our partners in this ministry, a glimpse we’ve listed some of the ways He’s blessed our group below:
™ Our team found great flats (apartments) in the city that have given them greater access and contact with students. Many non-Christian students have really enjoyed the hospitality of our team and have felt very welcome at the flats.
™ The once-a-month Student Life gathering (FUSE) has continued to grow to around 30-35 students. Many have enjoyed the time so much that they now (naturally) want to meet more frequently and are looking to meet every other week beginning in 2009.
™ A group of our committed students started an Action Group in their hostel (dorm), the Weir House. They’ve met weekly to show and discuss Nooma videos (short spiritual videos by pastor Rob Bell) with other students at Weir. Around 10-15 have consistently come. Two of those students, Josh and Trevor, who were spiritually seeking have since made decisions to follow Christ! They have been asking great questions about faith, started attending a local church, and are studying the Bible.
™ As our students have been developing meaningful relationships with each other, they have actually helped promote community on campus. Both the Mount Street Café and the Atrium common space have now become a place were students are connecting and cultivating community. It’s so sweet to see our students meeting together to study the Bible, mingle with others, and share their faith in these settings!
™ Our students are getting more excited to lead and take ownership in our movement. There are probably around 10 who are eager to lead their own Action Groups in 2009, but we hope to see more interest still.
™ We are beginning to develop relationships with some local churches and other Christian groups who desire to work together with us to see the campuses impacted for Christ.
Wow! We look ahead to next year with great faith that God will continue to do more that we can think or imagine!

They’re Here! :: Third Year STINT Team

Back Row: John*, Steve, Nate*, Josh, (Isaac), Dan*, Justin,
Front Row: Kara, Susanne, Lindsay*, Jill, (Hudson), Lacey

On October 10th we welcomed the third U.S. STINT team to come to Wellington, New Zealand! Our new team members are John, Nate, Dan, and Lindsay (all indicated with a start* above). After their long plane flights, they were happy to hit the ground! The photo above was snapped at a restaurant in the sleepy little town of Martinborough during a combined team retreat. We are happy to report that Steve (our token “Kiwi”), Kara, and Susanne, after raising additional financial support, will be returning to the mission with us in 2009. Justin and Lacey (far right) got engaged while on STINT together here in New Zealand and will be getting married in Chicago this January. They’ve talked about returning to Wellington after their wedding to pursue jobs and further studies. We are excited about their potential return, as we’ve really valued their friendship and heart for people. We thank the Lord for continuing to provide us awesome teammates to labor alongside in the mission field. We look forward to 2009!

A Look at What’s Happening Around Campus

Saying Goodbye to Sarah

From the beginning of our time here in New Zealand, we’ve had the privilege of pioneering Student Life in Wellington with Sarah Overmyer. Sarah has served as a team leader with us, overseeing much of the woman’s ministry on campus, conducting training for our staff team, baking wonderful goodies for us, and so many many other things that all of them cannot possibly be mentioned! Over the past two years she has grown to be a good friend to us and our boys. She’ll be greatly missed. Sarah will be spending the next year working in the Great Lakes Regional office for Crusade. From there, she is planning to get additional training for overseas ministry and hopes to return to Wellington in 2010. We’re thankful that she has this opportunity and desires to return to New Zealand.

Seeds, Growth, Fruit :: God at Work (From October 08)

[Above: Photos of Josh teaching students about how they can help extend the gospel to others on campus.
The string illustrates the Gospel crisscrossing people & relationships.]



[Staff and students of Student Life pray over Sarah as she prepares to head back to the USA.]


“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul?” [Or what is Josh?] “Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.”
[1 Corinthians 3:5-9]

As I look back over the two short years we’ve been in New Zealand, I continue to see and acknowledge that it is God who is growing our new movement. As the second year of having Wellington Student Life present on campus draws to a close, I am grateful for the results we can observe. There are presently 117 students connected to our movement. Eighty (80) of those students are involved in Action Groups and discipleship on campus where they are learning what it means to walk with Christ for a lifetime and have a mission to the Lost around them. The remaining 37 are ones that our staff and students are continuing to build meaningful relationships with. Most of them have heard the gospel more than once, but have yet to place their faith in Christ. We are praying that as they continue to hear from us about Jesus and bear witness to our lives that they too will decide to give their hearts to God!