First New Zealand Update. Post Earthquake.

Hey everyone! So this is my first update and blog post! The internship here in NZ did not start out the way I was expecting! The cool thing is that God is in control and He knew exactly what He was putting me into. God has been so faithful in walking with me as I have been released to be His hands and feet. I have been humbled to be surrounded by the community of Northcity (the church we are partnered with), my fellow interns and the staff of Kingdom Reality Ministries. They have been a huge factor in my accelerated growth.

Its been only a month since I first touched down here in Christchurch, NZ. The journey began with hours of worship, personal devotions, taking care of our temples by working out, community and team building, and the Reformation Meetings we hold three times a week at Northcity. Our Schedule quickly shifted as Christchurch was hit by a 6.3 Earthquake. The city was shaken and a third of the city was destroyed. The name of the game for our team was to serve. Quickly we came up with a campaign that channeled through a website we created called http://www.weheartchristchurch.com/. Here we brought up awareness of what was happening in Christchurch on a daily basis and gave oppurtunity for folks to give financially. To date we have raised over 75,000 dollars. We have already given away 50,000 of it to a local church who's building was decimated. Though I helped with some of the video editing and production of footage we were getting daily, I was mostly serving on the streets. This included everything from shoveling liquefaction, handing out free food, giving money to those who lost their homes and cars, recording footage for our website, getting interviews with victims of the quake, praying for people and leading people to Christ. I cried, laughed and was changed in this process of being the hands and feet of Jesus. The devastation is great but Christchurch is rising up. The name of the city is prophetic. It WILL have an abundance. It WILL be rebuilt. It WILL thrive just as God wants His church to do.

If you want to partner with me click the "Donate" button on the right of my blog site. The money will go directly into my intern account and will allow me to continue to recieve the kingdom education I already have been experiencing. It also is a way you will be directly sowing into the rebuilding of Christchurch as I have been activated to do what is necessary to help the community and ultimately share Christ's love.THANK YOU! I will be updating weekly so "Favorite" my blog site to stay connected with me and what God is doing here in Christchurch, NZ.

Blessings, Derek

On the right you will find some of my own personal footage of the devastation.