Another Combined DTS! // June - August

We can't thank you guys enough for your support in so many ways since our return to YWAM last January. We know the wild ride we've experienced here is no exception to the uncertainty for those outside of YWAM as well, so thank you heaps for believing in us and sticking with us on our journey here too.

To our overseas family and friends - yep, we're in lockdown over here again! Asides from that though, since we last wrote to ya, we’ve had some awesome news which is that we’re expecting a baby! Come feb 2022 we’ll have a baby Gager on campus.

For the last couple months we’ve been navigating the move out of school leading the DTS ourselves and having commissioned two new school leaders, Nico from Germany and Shaniah from Canada/NZ. In YWAM this is a big part of what we’re here to see happen - the multiplication of young confident and competent leaders giving it a crack and adding their unique flavour. It’s fun seeing these school leaders work their magic* with this DTS from afar, particularly with the addition of co-leading alongside YWAM Queenstown's school leader, Nick, and their sweet staff (*by "magic" we obviously mean Holy Spirit-led awesome unique to their personality 'flairs' lol).

With the DTS in good hands, we've been pretty well locked in on the North. Before returning to YWAM we knew that the wider region of Northland, and specifically Whangarei, were highlighted to us as places the Lord had stuff for us to get amongst. We've shared before how Waitangi was a big answer to prayer in that regard and this year we have become friends with the chairman of Waitangi Marae, Ngati Kawa, who had the group we took up preparing and cooking hāngī (food cooked in an 'earth oven') for members of the community and planting trees up Waitangi river alongside Bay of Islands high-schoolers in no time, haha. We were also recently invited to begin attending a monthly youth sector network hui/gathering in Whangārei alongside legends from organisations in the district. Pretty much representatives from the police, Whangārei Youth Space, Oranga Tamariki, Te Ora Hau and so on meet up to connect, plan events, and ensure we’re working well together for the benefit of Northland youth and young adults.

Back on the DTS front, the staff and students are experiencing lockdown in Queenstown since it's where their school started off, and they're scheduled to arrive in Northland next weekend. Thankfully Barry and I were able to visit them the week before this lockdown was put in motion. Classes are via Zoom in these instances and since the base is situated differently down South, the guys and gals are separated in their apartments until the lockdown lifts. It's amazing how relaxed we all were this time around as we've learned from lockdowns in the past and become friendly with Zoom gatherings. Naturally we're keeping a very keen eye on the COVID updates and proposed time-frames as it threatens to change the schools plans to arrive next Sat, but God has lead us through change before and will only do so again :)

Love to you all!

Ma te wa / til next time

Tesh and Baz x