Trip Reflection 🗺️🪞

As I wrap up this trip blog, I want to revisit my goals for the trip and reflect on each of them. I have written my reflections below each goal in purple type.

My intentions for this trip were:

1. To serve with the CSUS Surf & Serve team at Youth With A Mission YWAM Pichilemu in Chile, doing construction work; to build relationships with fellow team members. My time in Chile seems sooo long ago! The Mission Trip was awesome, and I grew so close to the other team members that I cried when they left! I look forward to continuing to build relationships with them in the future. Almost all of them have been on previous trips to Pichilemu. Who knows? Maybe I’ll go again sometime. I am especially glad to have gotten to know Mikayla better, since she is our new Regional Director for Christian Surfers Northern California.

Mikayla and her fiance, Joey

2. To rekindle and deepen friendships with Chileans. (We lived in Chile from 1989 to 1996. I visited in 2005 for 3 weeks, and last December my kids and I were there for 8 days.) After the CSUS team left Pichilemu, I stayed with Ruth Jerez and her family for another week. So I got some quality time with them. I also had time to connect with other people in Pichilemu and Rancagua. I visited Russ & Heidi Smith and Joyanne & Pedro in Temuco, Chile (where I had never been before). Those days of hanging out in Pichilemu gave me a sense of closure that I didn’t have in December (which is why I wanted to go back). I now feel like if I don’t get another chance to return to Chile, I’d be okay with that.  

Ruth and her mom, Adriana

Ruth Mery (Ruth’s daughter) and Negro

Ruth’s son Andres, his wife Andrea, and their boys

Ruth’s daughter Elizabeth and her family

Gladys and her family

Paulo 

Nathan Anderson and his family

Nathan, Tristan, Jessica, and Juliette

Mitch Anderson (with Freddy from the CSUS team)

Juliette Anderson

Carlos O’Brien

Corina, Veronica, and Angela in Rancagua

Russ & Heidi in Temuco

 

My Goddaughter Joyanne & her husband Pedro in Temuco

3. To connect and build friendships with Christian Surfers (CS) leaders, members & missions near Auckland, New Zealand and as I travel up the coast of Australia from Sydney to Brisbane (and stay with some of them to maximize our time together and minimize my time alone). Yes! This goal was so amazingly fulfilled! I am so thankful to all the people who hosted me and welcomed me into their families. I felt like I was a part of a progressive family reunion where I was meeting relatives I had never met before, but they felt like family immediately! I am also so appreciative of new friends who aren’t involved in CS who hosted me or reached out to me. ☆ = a CS activity I did

I will never forget 

• John & Margaret Benn in Henderson, West Auckland, New Zealand

• Mike & Emma, Ariana and Jacob Walker in Mount Maunganui, NZ

And Cielo

• Mike’s mom, Marieta Walker, who I didn’t get to meet, but she let me stay at her amazing house on Waiheke Island.

• James & Shelley Forrest and their kids: Summer, Robbie, Poppy, and Jessica Jane (JJ) from Kurnell, Sydney, Australia 

•  ☆ Girls CS night making gnocchi in Cronulla (the town where CS officially began) at Serena’s house

 

• Bec Brown, daughter-in-law Gabby & friend Cath in Wamberal, Australia

• The Youngs: Tiana, Andy, Matt, and Laura in Forster, Australia, CS Drop-in House

• ☆ CS Forster: Surf, Brekky & Devo 

• George & Susie Watt in Bonny Hills ☆ History of CS since before it became and official organization, and Bruce & Marsha Blackwell who had me over for dinner

George & Susie and their son Chris & his family

The only picture I got at Bruce & Marsha’s was their son’s snake

• Judith & Ben Jackson and their kids Aisha, Ptarmigan, and Jonah 

• ☆ CS Port Macquarie Coffee, Devo & Swim 

• Sally Pinzak and her amazing Kiwi Down Under organic farm in Coffs Harbour

 

• ☆ CS Coffs Harbour Surf & soup gathering, Juda & Lily Leet & new leaders: Savannah & Sam (By the way, I think I forgot to mention that Lily told me she did her Youth With A Mission Discipleship Training School in Pichilemu, Chile!)

• Christina & Ian McKay in Brisbane and Agnes Water

• The 4 women who adopted me into their new friends group at Camp Widow Australia (Sharon, Jude, Lucy, and Robyn)

4. To learn more about how CS New Zealand and CS Australia operate so that I can bring new ideas for ministry and organization to our local chapter and possibly even to the National Organization (and perhaps share some useful ideas about what we do here with them) 

Yes! Here are some of the ideas:

• Reach young surfers before they get a driver’s license by giving them

       rides to go surfing

• Be involved with local surf clubs & Jr. Guards and support youth surf

       contests to build relationships with these organizations

• Be hospitable, open my home to others. Get rid of stuff and set up

       a nice guest room in one of my extra bedrooms.

One of the rooms I stayed in

I have a lot to do to make my guest room nice

• Invite people to church and invite them over to fellowship, worship,

       and pray

• Let my home be a place of ministry 

• Share with others the amazing area where I live and the activities I do

• Cooking events can be fun and a great way to gather people

• Going out for coffee/breakfast is a great way to connect

• Share the history of CS and those who had/have the vision of

       reaching surfers for Christ

1996 First CS International Conference in Hawaii

(Can you find Joe?)

• Share Christian Surf movies

• Mentor & release young people into leadership

Sam & Savannah now leading Coffs Harbour

Serena (blonde on the right) now leading Cronulla

• Connect with people with whom I share things in common

Sally, whose husband died 2 years ago from Glioblastoma

• I don’t have to stand up on a surfboard to have fun surfing!

• Keep the evangelistic focus in CS. Don’t just become a club

       for those who already follow Jesus.

• Swimming in the ocean is fun, even if you don’t surf.

• Walking on the beach and taking hikes is awesome!

4. To experience and see the countries and cultures I will be visiting (I have always wanted to go to Australia!) and to see God at work in other parts of the world. 

Well, I can’t list all the ways this was completed! Just look at the 47

posts in my blog! If you ever go to New Zealand or Australia, allow

plenty of time for your visit. There is so much to see and experience!

One thing that really stood out to me about the culture is all the ways

that they honor the indigenous cultures from each geographic

area. My previous post focused on that topic.

5. To continue progressing through my grief journey, seek God’s will for my future pursuits, grow closer to God, and learn to depend more fully on Him. In some ways, this trip was a distraction and a “break” from the constant grief triggers in my home environment and town, which was helpful. But being able to tell our story and tell people (who never knew him) about Joe was very therapeutic and felt like a wonderful way to honor him. One person told me that it will be great to meet Joe in Heaven, having only known him through what I have shared about him, and I said that he will also be so happy to meet them and so appreciative of the way they cared for me on this trip. 

And of course, the Camp Widow, which inspired the whole Australia part of this trip, gave me more tools, inspiration for the future, and connections with fellow widows.

I have actually enjoyed traveling alone and taking little overnight

trips alone, and those times have helped me know that I am

not alone because God is with me and He sends people along

to walk beside me.

Visiting different churches always opens my eyes to different ways

of worshiping God corporately. I have also been challenged to

memorize scripture more.

Jaime (center) told me how he has been putting scripture to music to memorize large portions

I want to reach out and include people who look like they feel lost

and out of place like these women at Camp Widow who reached

out to me.

Thank you for following my blog all this time and trekking to Chile, New Zealand, and Australia with me through the blog. If I counted correctly, I wrote 47 posts about my 58-day trip. I wanted to document the trip for myself, and to feel like I was not alone, but that many of you were with me! Now that the trip and the blog are all done, you and I can get some rest!

The Lord bless you and keep you. 

The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.       - Numbers 6:24-26    AMEN!