After the iconic 3 months in Europe, it was time to launch into School of Worship in New Zealand, where I was able to reflect so much on my history with God, meet amazing brothers and sisters in Christ, and grow in monumental ways as a worship leader!
One of the first things emphasized during our School of Worship was the power of the Māori word, “whakapapa”. This word is used among the Māori people to refer to the genealogical history of their ancestors, and it’s very significant in Māori culture that you look to the past to help you determine your cultural identity and where you’re moving in the future. We looked at this concept back in Week 1 of School of Worship and it brought me on this journey of revisiting my own Whakapapa with the Lord; my 10 year history of walking with Him, all the highs and lows, and all the vision and breakthroughs that I experienced along the way. Revisiting my past with Him throughout the time at School of Worship helpedme to have a better view of the future He was calling me into.
Among my fellow classmates in my School of Worship were 2 legendary Māori people themselves in my friends Jaimy & Sincerity! The two of them truly helped me to discover the beauty of the Māori culture in such marvelous and personal ways!! Sincerity was always a fierce warrior worship woman after God’s heart, and Jaimy was a tender-hearted but deep and profound soul, and they both inspired me so deeply. Probably the most powerful week of our entire school was when we got to visit a Māori marae, which is the local land that the Māori people live on, and the way they live is so community driven. It really reflects the kingdom of heaven in so many ways, as God’s heart is also for communities to be able to express themselves culturally while still being united. He desires unity but not uniformity, and that really was something I discovered deeply & powerfully through my friendships with these amazing WoGs! (Women of God! lol)
Over the course of School of Worship, we dove into all 150 Psalms on a deeper level! Looking back at the history of the songs that David wrote to the Lord through the generations helped inspire us in our own songwriting as well, and we even have specific weeks where we were given a specific Psalm to write about! One example was we had to write a song based on Psalm 96, and I wrote this song called “Our Lord Reigns” which takes the concept of the nations singing a new song in the Scripture and makes it into an epic song going through each continent and encouraging them to be glad about our Lord’s reign!! You can listen to it here: Our Lord Reigns ! In addition to that song, we also had a week where we had to write a song based on Psalm 100 in groups, and myself, Jaimy, Allyson, and my roommate Oliver all wrote a song together called Joyful Noise!! In addition to songs based on Psalms, we wrote them based on many other topics and Scriptures as well!! It was truly amazing crafting worship songs on a weekly basis with amazing brothers and sisters in Christ!
Easily the most powerful nights during our School of Worship were the song sharing nights, where after taking time every week to either individually or corporately write songs, we would take time to share our new creations and celebrate one another!! This was a super special, significant, and vulnerable time because oftentimes creatives can be so hard on themselves and not think the creations they have made are worth putting out there, but in these moments we were able to encourage everyone about the gold inside of them that maybe they couldn’t always see, and MANY songs that were shared here impacted me deeply, not just the ones I made myself!! Some examples were “My Eyes Have Been Searching” written by Isabella, Allyson, Anika, and Jaimy, “Sing a New Song” written by Pieter, and “Whole” written by Oliver and Marise, and those were just 3 of MANY glorious tunes shared over the 3 months!! And soon, we have a school album dropping on Spotify, so stay tuned for that!!
Aside from our song sharing nights that were more intimate and were simply between the members of the school, we also got to lead worship more corporately for the YWAM Furnace community on multiple occasions, and our school was divided into 2 bands that would normally lead these times together! My band was known as the Shalomie Homies and it consisted of myself, Isabella, Marise, Katie, and Allyson, and each one of us always brought something unique to the table! What I liked about leading worship sets in New Zealand was every time I would get to play a different role;; sometimes I was lead singer, sometimes back-up singer, sometimes lead pianist, sometimes back-up pianist, one time even my ukulele and I also was learning guitar during the school as well!! It gave a perfect diversity of opportunities to be able to try new things and engage with the Lord powerfully in the context of leading worship in community!!
In the midst of our School of Worship, 3 of the students in the Discipleship Training School that was running alongside us were baptized and gave their lives fully to Jesus!! The one in the green hoodie here was one of them, my friend Frans, along with the legendary Megan & Eranae!! It was so encouraging to see these young people so on fire and ready to wholly devote themselves to Jesus for the rest of their lives!!
Overall, my season at YWAM Furnace NZ really helped to remind me of my heart for the Worship and Prayer movement as a whole, and as I took Selah moments to just wait on the Lord and talk to Him about my Whakapapa, I really felt the vision develop for coming back home to Waukesha to start a prayer room known as the “Healing Waters House of Worship”. This was based on the very Whakapapa of the city of Waukesha itself, because the city used to be known as a place of “healing waters” as it once had desirable hot springs that people would travel to see from all over!! However, eventually the hot springs dried up and no one cared anymore. But I believe God wants to bring back His healing waters over Waukesha, not in the literal form of hot springs, but in the form of the Holy Spirit covering the city with rivers of hope and life!! This vision was truly born in the hours of time with God in the prayer room here in Aotearoa and I will never forget this vibrant season of seasons where God truly clarified to me the path forward to see His kingdom come in the future!
Over the course of the 3 months of my time at the School of Worship in New Zealand, I sent out 5 newsletter updates! These were newsletters #9-13 of the International Treasure Hunt Series!! You can find them all at the links below!
9. The Kiwi and Rising Sun Season
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