the proposal :)

i have some fun news to share with you...chip and i are engaged!!! he proposed last week, on June 29th! we just got back from our big student winter conference and it's been quite a whirlwind! he proposed on monday, we left on wednesday, and now we're back and it's still sinking in. :)

i would so love to tell you in person, but this will have to do for now. now for the story...and it's detailed for those of you who love that. :)

so, back in May, chip asked if we could have breakfast together on the morning of June 29th. then a few days later when we were sitting in staff meeting, he leaned over and flicked to that day in my planner - he was going to write it in if i hadn't yet, but i already had it down. :) i thought it was a bit odd that he was planning a date a month in advance - he is a planner, but not usually that far ahead! so, my curiosity was peaked, but the end of the semester was really full & i didn't have heaps of time to think about it.

then, the week before the 29th, i went to the Cook Islands with Tina Bufkin, my campus director's wife. i actually won the trip through my bank here!! who wins a trip to a tropical island?! i mean, really?? :) it was such a gift from the Lord & tina and i really enjoyed time to rest. chip took advantage of that week to go into detail planning mode. :) i was starting to be more curious, and even told tina that i wondered if something was happening on monday. she did an excellent job of encouraging me not to assume anything & that chip probably just wanted to have a special date & quality time after i was away, and before we went to conference. i agreed that she was probably right - and i didn't want to constantly be expecting him to propose every time we were together & then be disappointed. so i determined to enjoy whatever he had planned & asked the Lord to help me wait! but i still wondered if we were going ring shopping or something out of the ordinary. :) however, when we got back from Rarotonga, i had an email from Jen and Eve asking me to start looking at rings & send them ideas...so i was convinced that chip didn't have the ring yet and was just starting to look & talk to them about what i liked!

so that morning he picked me up & said, "surprise! we're going on a scavenger hunt!" now, i love scavenger hunts & he knows this. we did one for my birthday, the day after he moved to NZ. so this wasn't entirely out of the ordinary. i figured he had just planned a fun, special date so we could have quality time before conference. he gave me a homemade puzzle piece that had the first clue & an adjective describing me. the clue led us to one of our favorite cafes for breakfast - the place of our first breakfast after chip came to NZ! after breafkast, the rest of the clues led us around hamilton to places where we've either had significant conversations, or fun memories, etc. it was a rainy, dreary morning & i felt bad that it was raining on his scavenger hunt! but it was still quite enjoyable. :) the last couple clues led us to Caimbridge, a small, quaint town just outside hamilton. he stopped to go to the "bathroom" - he did go, but also called Darin Bufkin (our campus director) & put the ring in his pocket!

we went outside & he gave me the second to last clue. by this point, i realized that the pieces had a photo of us blown up on one side, and it was spelling a larger message on the other. i looked at this piece & realized that what i thought was spelling "te adoro", which means "i adore you" in Spanish (chip has said this to me often - when we first started dating he told me he wasn't going to say "i love you" unless he was following it up with a proposal. he wanted it to mean commitment and save it for that. so cool!) so, this puzzle piece had an "A" and part of an "m"...i remember vaguely thinking that while i don't know spanish super well, i knew that the word for love in French is "amour", and spanish is similar! at this point i'm starting to be confused, because i was sure he didn't have the ring yet! so, i was still telling myself that he wasn't proposing. it must say something else!!

from there, we walk across the street & down into a park where we had one of our first big conversations about marriage & future. he directs us to a specific spot by the lake & we put down the blanket. i was SO curious now. it's raining, and we ate breakfast not too long ago. were we having a picnic?! i had no idea what was going on! we sit down & starting putting the puzzle together - he also turned my legs to face a certain direction and i thought it was a bit odd, but then figured he just wanted me next to him or something. when we finish the puzzle, it was on the photo side, & it's one of my fav photos of us. then we flip it over and it says "te amo"...i think i was just staring, trying to register if that really said i love you, and as i'm doing that, chip stands up & starts to help me up. then he starts talking & said that he really liked me. i said, "i like you too!" and gave him a hug. :) haha. he puts his hands on my arms and pulls me away so we're looking at each other again - he was serious and had a serious message to get out. ;) then he starts talking about this year and how he has learned so much & that he cares deeply for me. and he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. he starts getting down on one knee & says "i love you" while pulling the ring out of his pocket. i'm just shocked now and say, "is this for real?!" and then, "oh my gosh!" then i realize that he just said, "will you marry me?" and is now holding the ring by my finger, waiting for my answer! :) i almost continued exclaiming, but realized that i couldn't keep him hanging & said, "yes, yes!" as he gets up and hugs me, he points over to the woods across the lake, where i see Darin & Tina jumping up & down & waving. they had hidden to take photos of the event! darin was even decked out in camouflage! they ran over to congratulate us & i was still so shocked!! the Bufkins had asked me to babysit that night so they could have a date night before conference. i realized i probably was never supposed to babysit - chip had them ask me so i wouldn't plan anything that night. :)

from there we went back to his house, had a light lunch that he had ready & skyped our families. we went out for a nice dinner & then afterwards he asked if we could stop by the Bufkins to get some photos from that morning. at this point, i did not believe we were just going for photos. i was starting to catch on with all of these surprises...:) we arrive & see that chip had gathered our staff team, some friends from church & around hamilton. we celebrated with cheesecake & showed them the photos from the morning. so fun! one other fun detail is that on June 29th a year ago, while we were at Xtrack, chip decided before the Lord that he was going to pursue me. 3 days later he asked me out on our first date! so, the day he proposed was a significant date, but i didn't know it until he told me!

so that's how it happened! with conference the week after, we decided to just enjoy being engaged & didn't plan any details for a little while. but we'll definitely keep you posted! right now, we're looking to come back to the states this NZ summer (US winter) & we're getting married on December 12th. i can hardly believe it...sometimes this is still quite surreal! :) we would be so grateful for your prayers as we plan & prepare. for wisdom as we plan when to come home for the wedding in relation to the campus schedule, & that we will walk closely with the Lord & exalt Him in this season!
i'll post some photos of the proposal, so check back soon!

thank you so much for your love, prayers & encouragement. each of you are such a blessing in my - and now our - lives! we look forward to hopefully SEEing you soon!!!

tune in update!

today at waikato uni, we saw a student pass from death to life! andrew made a decision with chip and ryan (both teammates of mine...and chip is also my boyfriend:) to give his life to Christ!! praise God! please pray for andrew!

we got 2400 cards from the Tune In campaign last week, and of those we are able to follow up 1400 with one on one conversations, many of which will include the gospel! and 900 of those people indicated that they would like to talk more with someone about knowing God! we are now in the process of following up these cards...meeting with students on campus throughout the day to give them a Tune In magazine (filled with articles, people's stories - all things relevant to uni students, like sex/relationships, success/studying, and questions about life and God). the articles and stories all easily allow for transitions into the gospel as we ask students if they've ever heard that they can have a relationship with God. many of them have NEVER heard that they can be in relationship with their loving, sovereign, holy Creator!

also, darin and i were able to share the gospel with the girl who won the iPod. she had never heard it before! we're meeting with her again on friday (tomorrow) to talk more about God and some reasons why we can know that He exists. pray for Alicia!

thanks heaps for praying and being part of God changing lives of university students in New Zealand!!!!

tune in

students moved into the halls today at Waikato uni!

we spent the morning helping first year students move into their respective rooms in the halls on campus. it was fun to see all the wide-eyed first years and their parents, making the transition to uni life away from home. i am excited to hopefully get to talk more with many of these women! then, tonight we had an opportunity to give away free cups full of vouchers (coupons) for area businesses, lollies (candy) and our Tune-in survey in all the halls at dinner time. the Lord has given us favor with the hall directors and they see us as a positive presence on campus and in their halls. one even told us "the more students that get involved with you, the easier my job is!" praise God! we're the only Student Life movement on NZ campuses that is allowed in the halls - this is a huge blessing! the cups are a fun way to welcome students to campus, serve them, and right at the start of the year let them know who we are and that we care about them!

so, tonight the students were given the cups at the start of dinner, then we made an announcement asking them to take a quick minute and fill out the survey and turn it in. then we did an immediate drawing for a $50 cash prize. this is a super strategic way to get contact details for the 1200 first year students that live on campus!! the survey has 4 short questions asking if they would like more info about Student Life, do they have questions about God and are they wondering where they stand spiritually, and would they life more info on various aspects of uni life: studying, relationships, etc. then we follow up the cards of the students that are keen to talk more and we're able to have awesome conversations in which many of them hear the gospel!

and check out the Tune-in website! www.tunein.co.nz when classes start next week, we'll have tables set up around campus for students to fill out the surveys and enter to win a drawing for an iPod nano. this is the website they'll visit to enter to win.

please pray for the first years as they're beginning their uni career! pray for conversations we will have as a result of following up the tune-in surveys, and pray that God is softening and opening the hearts of these students to know Him. pray that they are ready to hear and trust Christ. pray that the partying and other "comforts" are empty and dis-satisfying to them. and pray that the Lord will raise up students who want to multiply their lives and influence their peers for Christ!

also, please pray for our team. we're all quite tired and seem to be experiencing some spiritual warfare - the evil one definitely does not want us sharing Jesus on campus!! please pray that we are feeding daily on God's word and loving one another and the students out of our relationship with Christ.

thank you SOOO much for your prayers!!!!! it is incredibly encouraging knowing that you are all in this with me, battling for the souls of university students in New Zealand! more prayer requests, updates and photos to come!