Matakana island outreach

Hi fellow prayer warriors and supporters of this ministry,

We have just had our third weekend trek to Matakana island this last weekend gone by( 30th of October 09)

We had 14 signed up and Brian and I came as leaders.
The guides from the island rode accross to meet us and Colin and Bob came with a truck to take our gear over by ferry to the island.
We had come early enough because we needed to transport 7 horses. The loading went very well, all the horses went on straight on the truck including Venus!!!!

After the second load was on I then drove them again to the end of Matahui Road where we tied up the horses along the fence line and saddled up. Brian parked the truck in the orchard next door and we had lunch there before we started riding off.
All good timing, everyone had arrived on time, and everyone was excited to be going on this trek.
We took about 1 1/2 hours to ride accross and around to our camp.
The horses were happy to be placed in a good grass filled paddock together with new horses, but all got on well and there was no fighting.
We got welcomed onto the marae formally and we had a welcome speech by Hone and a song was sung for us.
I was welcomed back with open arms by all the whanau( family) and the aunties that cook the food.
We had a great dinner that night and a good time of talking about the island( Hone) and then we all went around about who we  were and why we are involved with horses. Great stories.
Brian and I sat up camp and other slept in the one room, matrasses on the floor, sleeping bags on it etc.

Day two, Saturday, a big ride out on the island. around the farms and forest and to the ocean beach, went for a good gallop with the others and spashed through the waves with Venus.

After this we had lunch in the forest house. Hone always says grace, but usually before everyone has come in, so the second time, I caught him, I then said grace with the others inside translating the grace from maori into English.....

I noticed a bit of spiritual resistance when I talked to one of the whanau about a specific christian CD, although she said she liked the music I didn't get very far other than that.

But it is a start, it will be maybe years before they really open up to the love of God, I don't know how long it will take, only God knows.
All they need to know is we love them,God loves them  and we want to continue bringing people to them to bless them. More later, but first some pictures....

Day three was riding back to the mainland but not straight away. First we had a great breakfast and then a farewell speech by Hone followed by us, thanking him for his and the whole whanau's hospitality.
Riding again, after saddling up through farmland and cropping land to the top of the hill looking out over the long pineforest island.

We had lunch at the top of the hill and then after lunch rode towards the beach to go accross again on low tide.

Horses4fun camp at Home

Our horses4fun weekend went well. We had a few cancellations but in the end it was good as I had been a bit nervous about having that many people come. In the end we had a nice group of 9 people.

Everyone arrived Friday night and got to know each other.

Inn the morning we started catching the horses after Lana arrived and fussed over them , brushed etc, was a good bonding time for the people.
Ashley came with little bro horse.

At 11 am we rode out,after I prayed out load as a group for protection on us. We had packed our lunch on the backpacks with our drinks etc.

Danny came too,( horse) and we quickly changed riders, Lana rode Danny and Linda on Lady. Cause Danny ran downhill too, wasn't used to it.( Danny horse is our neighbour's horse which we borrowed)

That was better. We took the track through the forest , I had made some jumps in the first part but no one wanted to jump the logs so then the horses just stepped over it.

After the forest the river, then more of the forest and then the little bit of Rae Road. From there into the farm and onto higher ground.

Through the back ridge with views over the sea and island etc.

Venus kicked Freckles on her side but Juanita's leg was missed by a few inches!!!!!

We had prayed for a safe trip, and God had protected Juanita from a broken leg.

Poor Freckles grunted a bit though, but she was fine. Naughty Venus. I don't know why she did that!

Later on Freedom decided to run down hill and Mark graciously "rolled" off and and got back on. No pain, nothing!!! An other miracle protection!!!

No other hickkups after that. We had lunch by the river in the corner of the bush and Springs Road/hot pools.

Straight after lunch we started riding again and a heavy rain came down on us and we rode home and arrived soaking wet. But it was also beautiful to ride through the forest in te rain. Everything looks different.

We had a fun night of sharing and talking. People became much more open to the things of God. We had a wonderful talk/sharing with a lady in that group about God. It was obvious she also has Jesus in her life.

The next day was raining and everyone was happy to potter around and enjoy the hostel, to relax and not ride in the rain. Juanita and I went to church and it was great to hear testimonies of what God is doing in people's lives. I shared about God's miracle protection on us yesterday.

After lunch the Auckland group went home while Juanita and me and Brian still were sharing more and listning to Juanita's testimony of God's provision of work for them as a family from South Africa, God is good to his children.
Like we always say: GOD IS GOOD. ALL THE TIME! ALL THE TIME; GOD IS GOOD!!!!

DAY 2 OF LAKESRANCH HORSECAMP SEPT 09

 Saturday monring, 8 am breakfast.

Everyone has a good breakfast at the dining room. There are always plenty of hands up when I ask for volunteers for dishes.
After the dishes were done we have a time of bible reading and evotions and prayer.
I asked Liz to read the bible and then there is a bit from " daily bread" which I read out for us to ponder on.
After that there is open prayer time to pray for the day.
After this we go to get our horses and brush them. Then a ride in the arena for a lesson from Ross.
Freedom by our truck ( left)

The trek hereafter is eventful to say the least. It was very exciting and the scenery breathtaking. The smell of sulphur is strong.

We had lunch by the lake and the whole group of 30 riders enjoyed the whole experience.
Towards coming home , the horses saw the camp and became restless. Freedom had one of my friends riding him and he also became restless. The horses in front wanted to gallop home so I told Hannah to get off him quickly as Freedom wanted to follow the others.
She couldn't get off quick enough and he did a fast swing turn and " bang" she fell off flat on her back.
She couldn't move and I had the walky talky, so I called for help and Kim and I did first aid.
She was taken to her motel unit by me after Ross had brough us to camp.
There I prayed for her and layed hands on her back.
I felt the heat came through and she felt it too.

Then I told her to have a rest and take a few anti inflammatories. Hannah ( right) with Shirley( left)
At dinner time I saw here there to my surprise. She had gone with Sarah to the dining room, still a bit sore.
Now she is better and asked me when she could come again to camp.
For safety we advised her not to ride the next day which was sensible. But God had healed her. Or an angel caught her or prevented a worse case scenario.
That night we watched the DVD of Nicky Cruz' testimony of the gangs in New York.
The next day the pasor of the other group was talking to one  of our members and at the end of their talk she gave her life over to Jesus!!!! Jesus is the answer for the world today and he is not only relevant to us in today's society, He is the only answer for our lives and for the world.
Micha and I became friends, even before this weekend, basically over the phone. We couldn't wait to meet each other, and when we did it was great, like meeting a sister.!!! And now she is!!!!

LAKESRANCH WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 09

After my initial Lakesranch stay with Prince, when I had lessons there, it was then that I could see a group coming here.
Now this has become a reality. Now that I have the truck, 4 horses came with us.

After the invitation mail out to join me at Lakesranch, I got 30 riders.
Initially it had been 35 riders, but there were a few last minute cancellations. So it still ended up with a good size group.
Some of us came early and had dinner there on the Friday night.
This whole experience of being the organizer is new to me, so I still had a few " teething" problems, like forgetting to make out a program, and saying thanks to the great Lakesranch staff, in particular to Adam, who is a great host, and really went out of his way to make the DVD player work, thanks heaps Adam. He was kind and patient with all of us.
A huge thanks to Ross, for being our trek master, and his wife Sarah, for coming with us on Sunday.

The trek on Saturday was very beautiful and challenging, but not impossible. We all made it up that hill, even though Sarah jumped off because Lady horse was so slow.
Many thanks to the great cook, and the hospitality staff. Very yummy food, and also many thanks for bringing out that yummy food to lake Rotoiti. I didn't expect that! I would have been expecting a filled roll, not roast pork and buns and salads. But it was great!!! Thanks for that!!!God has been so good to us this whole camp.

he got me there safely. I was quite nervous at first, driving with 4 horses onboard in our new truck.
A few teething problems were soon sorted out as I got used to the gears. Not to panic when I am in the 4th gear instead of the 3rd gear going around the roundabout.
Just try again. Double clutch if you have to. That works.
We got to the camp at 4 pm, good timing. Horses soon settled in their new paddock and surroundings.
Friday night's tea was great and we found our rooms in the lodge.

There was also an other camp at the same time, from a church in Auckland, they had taken the other wing of the lodge.
Brian had arrived 10 minutes after me in his car, as he had to leave the next day after dinner.
At least he could ride all Saturday.
The big ride on Saturday was very exciting, much more exciting than we had expected. Not a boring trail but a challenging one . We rode along the edge of the lake. Through the water. Then up through a just harvested pineforest, so very messy, up a very steep hill. We had to stand up on the stirrups and hold our hands forwards not pulling on the reins, or the horse could flip backwards.

All succesfully done, the decend was more sloping.
We rode along thermal area and boiling mudpools.
We had done riding for 5 hours with a 1 hour for lunch at the lake.

Ready for a soak in the hotpool after dinner.

WHERE HE GUIDES HE PROVIDES

Today was a big day.
I got my full truck driver''s licence.

On Monday I had all day theory and in the afternoon I sat the Road code for for trucks at the AA.
I got 100% for that!!!
The next day we all had to learn about how to use a logbook correctly and then we had to practise in the afternoon.
I got so tired in the afternoon I got a migraine headache and muddled up the logbook practise.
So I had to do the whole thing again.
I decided to do it again after the practical exam on Thursday.
I had Wednesday off. Oh that was great. No getting up at 6.30 am.

Thursday me and an other candidate did our practical assesment and it took 2 hours, we had an hour each.
I passed well and the boy just passed, but we both have to practise more.

In the afternoon I did the logbook accessment again and this time I got it all done ok. I passed that too.
So now I have my full truck drivers licence.

Why did I go for my truck drivers licence? Because God has provided a horse truck for us. The lady we bought it off is doing a trade/swap with our double/triple float and nissan safari .

We still have to go and get it, and swap sometime next week  but it is right on time for the first camp in Rotorua.  God has provided in this. Praise his Name!!!

WELCOME TO HORSES4THELORD MINISTRIES

Brian ( right) on Freedom and Andrew on his horse Major.
riding with friends
Brian on Fredom
Brian on Freedom.
Marianna( below) on Venus and Lana with Venus.














WELCOME TO THIS SITE.

IN THIS SITE I WANT TO SHARE SOME OF THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN US OVER THE YEARS WITH REGARDS TO OUR HORSES, HOW GOD FOUND EACH ONE FOR US, WHAT WE DO WITH THEM AND HOW GOD USES THEM TO BRING PEOPLE TO HIMSELF .

This is not our commersial site. We have that too, because we need to earn some money somewhere along the line to support this ministry. But this site discusses the spiritual nature of the ministry and to connect with people who have a similar ministry or would like to help us in this ministry.
We rely a lot on overseas helpers that come for an experience with horses.
We give them free accommodation and they get to experience working with our horses, ride them and help us generally with the farm and hostel.

Our commercial site is http://horses4fun.tripod.com/

But just to give you a bit of my background.
I am a female and am 49. I was born in Holland, lived the next 2 years of my life in Nigeria and then an other 2 years in Brunei. My Dad worked for SHELL so we lived in many places.
Once we settled in Holland, I started riding when I was 13 years old.
At 15 years old, I got a pony to look after from a farmer nearby. I had 10 riding lessons before that but just carried on looking after that pony for 2 years.
After the pony was sold I did some riding at the stables, mainly trekking on a Saturday.
The love for horses never left me .
I did my nursing training in Amsterdam, then I travelled to New Zealand to visit my uncle and aunty that had lived there since 1974. I was 20 when I visited them. This is November 1980.
They showed me all around the North Island , but my first visit was to a small town called" KatiKati" where me and my cousin went for a tramping holiday.
There I met Brian, a local farmer who was asked to carry my backpack for me when we tramped in the bush. ( I was an ex nurse with a sore back)
Brian hung around for the rest of that week....( I wonder why???)
At the end of that week he gave me a box of chocolates and his address and asked if I wanted to keep in touch....
I did keep in touch and at Christmas time I sent him a card thanking him for the chocolates.
He rang me at my aunty's place to see if I wanted to see more of Auckland. The others had already gone back to work and school, so I thought, " why not?"
Long story short, we went back TOGETHER to Holland in March 1981 and were engaged there on April 1981.
I went back to NZ July27th 1981 and we were married November 14th 1981.
My parents were able to come to the wedding and God provided a house for us on the family farm.
We milked 140 cows for the next 16 years. God gave us 4 healthy boys. First one born April 1983, second born Oct 1984, third son born November 1986 and fourth son born 1991.
Why I didn't get any girls I will ask in heaven but I may not need to as I have a fair idea...

During the time we milked cows I wasn't allowed to have horses but one day I was able to have a horse. From that time I looked after one for a few years.
But it wasn't until Brian's Dad wanted to divide the farm up and become independant from him, that's when I could have horses.
Once we got a good amount and a good team of horses together, we started a small riding school.
I started teaching kids to ride and take people on horsetreks .
Our neighbours let us use their big 300 acre farm for us to ride through and an other neighbout through their forest and river to get to the farm.
Once that was running for 4 years, together with the backpackers hostel that we have opened at the same time, I started seeing God use the horse to bring people to himself.

Now oppertunities have opened to start doing horsecamps and to bring people to the saving grace of Jesus.
Even though horses themselves have a healing influence on people, Jesus is the reason for our work with horses.
Jesus heals people and He uses his own creatures to bring people to Himself.
People often ask me how come our horses are so gentle, loving and kind and so willing? I say it is God who had brought each one of them here.
That in itself would be a separate chapter.
But now the Lord has given us 6 great horses. They are: Lady, a suffolk punch cross, chestnut, 15 hands and she is 16, Freckles, white ponym 14.1 hands, 16 yrs, and cross arab/welsh , then Prince, Bay gelding, 15.3 hands, 14 years, very gentle, Snoopy, Bay mare, 14.2 hands, ex polo , cross bred, big built, lovely nature, 15 years, then Freedom, tri-coloured horse( skewbald), 9 years, 15.2 hands, part clyde and very calm and laid back, great for beginners, gelding, and Venus, our blacl baby, 16.3 hands, half clydesdale, hald quarterh/arab, 5 years old mare.
Very quiet learners horse.
Now the oppertunities to go to several different locations for Christian horsecamps: Lakesranch , Rotorua, a christian camp where I am taking 32 people on the 18thto 20th September.
Camp at our place on the 16th to the 18th of October .
And Matakana island treks on the 30th October to the 1st of November.
Photos of Matakana treks are: www.picturetrail.com/horses4fun

Please pray for this ministry as the Lord is coming very soon and he wants lots of people to be saved.