What an AWESOME time we had at Girls Getaway 09!! Girls of all ages took time aside in the first weekend of November to come together for a weekend at El Rancho.

There was a whole lot of laughter, fun, and incredible GOD TIME shared. This year we even had some ladies from Shannon New Life join with us which was so great :)

We had the privelege of having Pastor Julie Steele ministering to us over the weekend and everyone was so blessed as she encouraged us to lay things down before God; challenged us to continually build the altars of our heart and taught on how to live in Faith, Hope and Peace. A whole lot of pearls of wisdom and experience was imparted!!!!!

After the Friday night session we enjoyed chocolate fondue together and watched a light-hearted, girly movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" which was made complete with popcorn & treats in our own goodie bags.

On Saturday afternoon the ladies from Otaki ran "The Amazing Race" and had us running around El Rancho in search of clues, each leading us closer to the finish line. At each clue there were physical & mental challenges we had to complete, some of which left us a little wet!!! 

On Saturday night we had an amazing time of worship followed by some powerful ministry time. It was great to see everyone respond and take a stand for change in their own personal walks with God and be ministered to in a special way by the Holy Spirit.

If you weren't there this year, we really encourage you to make it a priority next year. Girls Getaway 2010 will be one you don't want to miss!!!! Get your registrations in early for an unforgettable weekend!!!!

We are hearing exciting reports of God moving in our Youth & Young Adult Life Groups.

A new guy, Joseph (15/16yrs), has been coming along to Edge the last couple of months. He responded to Ps. Adam's message on Sunday and Ps. Sam and Tim (one of Joseph's Life Group leaders) talked with him afterwards and gave him a new Christian's pack etc....

On Wednesday at Life Group, his leaders prayed for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit and Joseph was totally touched and ended up face down on the floor, shaking!

Justin, a life group leader, said that he even looked different when he got off the floor. They were really encouraged as leaders!!!

He doesn't have a Christian background so is completely new to this whole thing. Praise God!!!

October saw New Life Youth come together from all over the lower North Island come together for the first ever "Elevate Youth & Young Adults Conference."

The guest speaker was Ps. Joakim Lundqvist from "Word of Life Church" in Sweden.

Ps. Joakim also heads up www.newgenerationuk.com, a youth movement of 20,000+ young people impacting their schoos and universities across the globe.

Young people were challenged and equipped to share the love and hope we have in Christ. See you all again at Elevate 2010!

What a weekend, first the Watoto Choir rocked the house on Friday night then Meadows Church celebrated our TENTH birthday at the Realm Drive site!! We had EVERYTHING!!! Lionel Ritchie (aka Ps. Ian Dennis), a bouncy castle, dancers, a free sausage sizzle and lollie scramble. It was a beautiful day, and we sentimentally let go of balloons, as was done at the opening of the Realm Drive Site... and what a great 10 years it has been-so many changes & developments. Praise the Lord, and here's to another 10 years of Impacting our world for Christ!!! 

WOW!!!! The Watoto Choir were AMAZING, what a night and what a privilege. The Auditorium was totally packed out -so much so, that the doors had to be shut and people weren't able to get in!! The African choir, all orphans touched so many hearts, yet showed through their performance and stories just how much joy (and ENERGY!!!!) they had because of their faith, hope and trust in Jesus! To find out more about Watoto, see www.watoto.com

On the 12th Sept, the Otaki Meadows held their first Mens Breakfast with 32 men in attendance!!! The breakfast was held at the Pukekaraka Marae in Otaki and proved to be a great success with all involved. The ladies of the house cooked an exceptional breakfast which was followed up by a great time of sharing and testimony by Robin Doyle. The church look forward to their next event and opportunity to share the message!!! 

 

Food for the stomach and food for the spirit - 60 guys gathered at Southwards on Saturday 6^th Sept to listen to Rob Harley speak. After enjoying a big cooked breakfast the guys were entertained and challenged on "The Power of Words" by Rob.

The start of the India fundraising began with our own original “Sari Saturday”- a pre-loved women’s clothing sale. The racks were filled with over 1000 items when the doors were open on the 8^th of August, and it was AWESOME!

We had lines of about 100 women waiting to enter at 9.00am, and once the doors were open, we did not really get a chance to breathe until 10.30am; the place was packed and the women loved it, all asking when the next one was!

The boys were put to work with a $5.00 car wash in the church car pack, and we also had the cafe pumping out great coffees.

All up, we made a total of $4500, $3800 of which was just from the clothing. This awesome event has only been made possible by the amazing support of friends, family and our own wonderful Meadows church women. Thanks for having a clean out girls, we love you for it.

One event down..... more to follow. Stayed tuned!!!

What an awesome place is Al’s shed. A shed to beat all sheds, open fire, pool table, table tennis, lights and sounds and even a shower open to mother nature.

The boys had a great night of fierce competition...again we saw Ps Adam playing his pastors card...”boys you know the pastor always has to win”...yeah right Adam!

The food was great – meat, meat and more meat.

Thanks Al, we had a blast and will be back for more...

The Young Adults night on Sat 25 July was AWESOME!! The girls & guys split up for the evening and this is what happened...

The girls had a very girly "tea party" ... involving tea, fondue, chocolate and treats all laid out on a carpet picnic as well as pampering, tinting, waxing, footspas and candles ...

The boys had a "gaming night" which, according to sources was "geek central" with electronic entertainment galore ... including WII, Xbox, boardgames, computer games, Guitar Hero, and, of course LOTS of pizza