The Queues Tour in New Zealand

Volume 3, Issue 8
The Queues Tour in New Zealand

We found a cafe named "the Queue" while in Wellington	We’re back! Thank you for your faithful prayers and patience in awaiting this exciting trip update. We have been eager to write this newsletter, as there is so much to tell and share with you. We agreed this is definitely worthy of two pages! Overview of the trip/tour: Traveled to 4 cities in New Zealand: Wellington (capital city), Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland (1.4 million people live there-1/3 of NZ’s population) 20,000+ Miles traveled (via airplane- international and domestic) 14 Shows/ concerts (bars, outside- in winter, campuses, churches) 1,825 photos taken 3+ hours of video camera footage The Queues purpose in New Zealand: Evangelistic concerts so that students might come to know Christ Concerts that associated the event with the name “Student Life” (the university ministry of Campus Crusade in NZ) for greater awareness of the ministry providing a non-threatening/ neutral ground for Christian’s to interact with non-believers What this looked like: Through a concert for a youth group at a church in Auckland, a young man who had never attended the youth group before prayed to receive Christ. (See photo on left side) Through setting up for a concert we played at a bar in Christchurch, we had a conversation with a musician who played there the night before as he came to pick up his gear. While talking with him, he recognized the fact that he had received a flier earlier in the week from Student Life about our show. It piqued his interest so much so, that he came back to our concert that night.	Above: The name of the university ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ in New Zealand
Mike checking the sound before a show.
Youth group in Auckland		Setting up for a show which takes about 1 1/2 hours.
Late night concert outside (in winter) where students were walking from bar to bar in this college town.		The crowd drawn at the outdoor concert in Dunedin.
Here comes the front row seats for this concert. Yes, it is a couch!		The flier for a show at "the Crypt" (basement of a church).
		The crowd breaks out dancing and getting into the music.
Students filling out comment cards at our full evangelistic concert in Hamilton.		We saw sheep among the many pasture lands and BEAUTIFUL terrain all over NZ. Baahh!
Auckland has 48 volcanoes. A spectacular overview of the city from Mount Eden, one of the volcanic peaks. This crater has been inactive for about 600 years.
Last group photo before boarding our plane having spent 3 1/2 weeks doing ministy in NZ as a team for His glory.

Through a concert played on the lawn of the Otago Museum in Dunedin, one of the Student Life staff had a 45 minute conversation with a young man whose father had recently pass away. (see photos on left and right sides)

A spontaneous concert was set up in the morning for later that day. The band played in front of a student’s flat (house)- on Castle Street. (see top two photos on left) Imagine being on the most desired street on a college campus- something like fraternity row. The timing of the concert (4:30 in the afternoon) was right before the BIG Rugby game (NZ vs. South Africa). NOTE: Kiwi’s get hyped up for these games just as Americans do for the Superbowl. College students strolled down the street with a couch atop a shopping cart. They just plopped down right in front of the makeshift stage. College students from neighboring houses sat drinking on their front steps, some even danced! The campus staff took the initiative to sit on the couches with these students and engage them in conversation. The band shared how Student Life brought them in and “hooked us up with the guys from this flat”. The ministry had previously done acts of love along this street by offering to clean the students’ flats.

Our band is an example of how Keynote uses music to gather non-believers. It is a universal language that reaches people’s hearts. The NZ staff shared how they were impressed with the band’s professionalism, musical excellence, and a new relevant way of sharing the Gospel.

Student Comments:
Thanks so much for your passion and commitment to God and reaching people. God really used you –at least to speak into my life- both tonight and at the student conference [you played at earlier in the month]. Only wish my friends could have stayed to hear you speak tonight (there was a house meeting tonight at my hostel) but never the less you guys are such an encouragement! -Sarah 18 Wellington

Really good stuff! Testimony and summary of who God is was one of the best I have ever heard. Put I in my language and great reminder of the simplicity of it all really…God is crazy about us. –Katie 20 Christchurch

It was amazing. I can relate to that story of not knowing what good really is. Cool to hear from Christian outside of home.- Alex 19 Auckland

Today was my first time coming here. I had so much fun and the stories really touched me.- Sarah Auckland

I think your performance was a blast. You guys reminded me that my relationship with God is very important and you guys also blessed me so much. –Audrey 19 Hamilton

Really glad I came. Might’ve kicked off reconnecting with some aspects of my life I have distanced myself from. Thank you. – Jodie 22 Hamilton

Thank you, your story blessed me. You’ve made me realize spiritual things and bible Study. That I need to reconsider my priorities. –Lisa 18 Hamilton

Thank you supporters and prayer partners for investing in these changed lives!

Back from New Zealand

We are back from our tour to New Zealand. We wanted to share with you some additional things beyond what our upcoming newsletter will contain.

We are praising God:

• We praise God for the fact that prior to leaving for our trip we backed up our computers. Upon our return from New Zealand, we discovered that the hard drive in Leslie's computer crashed and had to be replaced. We had all of the information available to be restored.
• This trip was a true blessing and an answer to prayer. As we shared in our June newsletter announcing this ministry opportunity, we had prayed since our engagement for the opportunity to serve together on an overseas ministry trip.
• We were blessed by the people we stayed with there. We gained a great understanding of the Kiwi culture and were able to see God’s AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL creation!

You may ask “What is touring like?”
Touring is a spiritual greenhouse: it requires flexibility, and logistically- having to trust God (for bringing people, the essential equipment to be provided, etc...).

Highlight:
For me (Leslie) I got to talk with Lilee and Penelope who were interns with the campus ministry in Dunedin. Before our late night show the three of us were talking and I had the privilege to encourage them about relationships, keeping high expectations in a future spouse and the cultural differences in dating. These two girls were such a joy to spend time with and have a heart for their campus. I had the privilege to be the first to hear that they both had decided to do another year of internship with the campus ministry. (see photo of the 3 of us)

The campus ministry is in the midst of growing and we are grateful to have played a small part in this continuing process. This tour in New Zealand was one of a lot of first time risks for the campus ministry, like having an event in a bar. We pray the Lord will continue to bless their efforts in reaching their campuses for Christ.

You may view additional photos from New Zealand by clicking on the picture below:

Additional New Zealand Photos