CS New Zealand National Gathering

Over the long weekend, 240 people from all corners of New Zealand drove to Taranaki for our National Gathering and a weekend filled with camping, surfing, and worshiping Jesus. The weather was lovely and the waves were perfect up and down the Taranaki coast. Throughout the weekend, Kirk and Mel Beyer (Kirk is the newly appointed APAC Regional Coordinator) spoke about the theme of "The In-between", which explored the period after Jesus' death and before His second coming. They discussed how Christians can live well in this space, with knowledge of what Jesus has already done and what He will do in the future.

In addition to spiritual talks, the weekend included fun events like a skate competition organized by a skate ministry called Drop Deep, an annual Grom run where young surfers had to get from point A to point B without getting caught and drawn on by the older surfers, and a super fun expression session surf competition.

The weekend also saw three people give their hearts to Jesus on Sunday night, and the following day, five people got baptized on the beach. It was an incredible opportunity to connect with new people and pray together.

Overall, it was an amazing weekend with so many people coming together to celebrate and remember what Jesus did for us. Thanks to Jesus, we could all enjoy this time and celebrate with surfers from all over New Zealand.