Let’s get back to my adventure, but a quick comment on the featured image. I found this randomly on a sidewalk in Dunedin, and it was even partially covered by bushes, so I firmly believe God gave me this image to show me that we all have broken hearts, hearts that aren’t complete, but he showed me how much beauty is still in the image, just like in our hearts and lives. We ALL have beautiful stories, sometimes they just aren’t complete yet!

Day 19 (Friday 12pm) – If you recall from my previous post, I had just arrived in Dunedin after an interesting adventure on a cattle trail. The date was Friday, September 7th, and I was ready to meet a new person I had met online (let’s call him Guy). We had originally decided on having coffee, but with my bike breaking down, it had shifted to lunch. So, we still met at Coffee Culture and then Guy drove me down to the beach in South Dunedin.

We ate at a cafe near the beach, and had a very nice lunch as we got to know each other. Turns out that Guy is an ENFJ to my INFJ, so we got along really well. After lunch, Guy took me back to the spot my bike broke down. We were able to fit it into the back of his car and then we drove it back to the bike shop. The owner said he could definitely fix it, although I wasn’t sure if he would charge me for the parts or not. I wanted the bike; I planned to use it in Dunedin as well as Queenstown and Christchurch. So, even if I had to pay a little more to fix it, I’d do it. But I decided to wait until after he was done to see if I would be charged.

I walked over to the library and had just gotten settled in to read and journal when Guy contacted me again. He asked me if I wanted to go to a movie. He and I really connected over lunch, so of course I said yes. I quickly packed up my stuff, walked back to my place to change, and then met him in the Countdown parking lot.

We had decided to go to The Meg (the shark movie). Guy paid for both our tickets and we actually got to choose our seats. I noticed that the entire back row of the movie theater was booked, and was curious who had gotten 15 seats in a row. We would soon find out.

It was a large group of teenage girls. They all had their cell phones, they were all quite chatty, and eventually Guy and I moved to another part of the theater. The girls eventually quieted down, and as the movie started, Guy leaned over let me know that I might need to hold his hand during scary parts. I was more than okay with that, if only because I also tend to jump as well at scary parts. It’s always better to have someone around when you encounter scary things!

The movie was really enjoyable! I laughed, I cried, I jumped, and I got to experience it all with an awesome new friend. After the movie, both of us were hungry and so we went to Jizo, a Japanese restaurant nearby. We had an awesome dinner with soup, appetizers, and teriyaki chicken bowls. He again paid for most of it.

We both were able to share some important stories from our lives, and Guy really impressed me by opening up about events in his past, as I also did to him. Next, he drove me to my new Couchsurf in South Dunedin. We found out that we were both going to be in Dunedin the next day for different errands, and there was a chance we would see each other again.

I met Ibrahim, my Couchsurf host for the next two nights. He had only just moved to New Zealand myself, and was still settling in to his apartment and the city. We chatted for a few minutes, and then he went to his room and I got settled in on his couch.

Overall, this entire day was simply amazing, my best day yet in New Zealand. I wish I could tell you more, because I think God is doing some big things with me being here in New Zealand, but that will be a story for another day.

Day 20 (Saturday) – I took some pictures of my couchsurf in the morning. It was a nice place, and I’m sure Ibrahim will continue to make it his home in the coming months. Here’s what the living room and kitchen looked like

I set out fairly early, and walked down to downtown Dunedin. On the 2 mile walk into the city, I reflected on some things, got a picture of a mosaic and another painted power box, as well as a fountain and penguin statue. I just liked the Bloke sign and I also took a picture of the sun peeking over a building. Finally, I found a broken heart on the sidewalk.

After my exploration, I settled in at Starbucks (they have 2 hour WiFi, but even after that, you can log-in for another 2 hours, which is unlike all other WiFi offered by other businesses) and started typing up the first week in Mosgiel post. Guy messaged me around 11am saying he was at the mall, which was only a block from Starbucks. So, I packed up my stuff and met him at Coffee Club. He only had about 30 minutes before he needed to go, but it was just nice to see him again so soon after our “date”. When I mentioned I had fun on the date, he didn’t think it was a true date, which is up for debate. On one hand, since he did ask me to the movie, pay for the movie, and pay for most of dinner, it was pretty much a date. But, it also was just friends getting to know each other, since it was very impromptu.

After Guy left, I used the bathrooms and found some artistic graffiti on one of the stall walls.

I spent another hour at the coffee shop, continuing to write about my first week, as well as explore Guy’s music tastes on Spotify and his Instagram profile. I eventually started to pack up my bag and realized my laptop charger was missing. I wasn’t using it to charge the laptop and I had just put it on the edge of the table. I was in the back, and there was only one table next to me, so I am guessing that someone got up from the table and swiped it on their way out (as it costs about $115 NZD, although they would need to buy a different plug adapter for it). I was surprised and a little angry at myself for not noticing, but I learned a valuable lesson…nothing comes out of the backpack unless I am using it.

Since I would need to charge my laptop, I walked to Noel Learning (NZ business that carries all sorts of electronics) and bought another power brick. I luckily still had my USB-C cord, so it was only the $115 NZD, and it has the correct plug so I don’t need to worry about a converter for it anymore.

I then went back to the house. On my way back, I investigated churches and found a church called “Fire and Destiny Church”. It was close by, and the name was very intriguing, so I called them up and asked their stance on homosexuality. I was informed by the pastor that he believes homosexuality is caused by other factors (10 root causes) in people’s lives and in many cases can be changed or “cured”. I was pretty shocked by this statement, and I even tried to debate the topic for a half an hour, before realizing he was very set on his belief.

During the conversation, he also told me the church had closed and had combined services with another church…in Mosgiel. That church was called Celebration Church. At this point, I thought it was a little odd since my other Couchsurf in Mosgiel was also very close to the church (although everything in Mosgiel is pretty close), and I was intrigued enough by the conversation that I felt led to go.

Before I had left this morning, I had given Ibrahim a grocery shopping list. I had volunteered to make dinner for both of us, and was planning to make Dirty Beans and Rice with Blackened chicken and green beans. While I had to estimate on measurements (as I wasn’t used to cooking in metric), and I had to use baked beans instead of kidney beans, it all turned out pretty well. Here is the final product.

After dinner, I had decided I was going out in downtown Dunedin to dance. So, I did the 2 mile walk into downtown and went to the Octagon. There is a bar called Suburbia that has several dance areas in it, and I wanted to dance to some good EDM/Techno/House music. I waited in line for several minutes surrounded by young, drunk college kids. When I got to the bouncer, he almost turned me away because I can’t use my Montana license to enter bars. He said I needed my passport, but since I am WELL over 21 years old, he let me in.

I got a Rum and Coke, and walked around for a bit before finding the EDM area. It was about 11pm at this point. The lights were going, but no music was playing and the area was empty.

I waited around until 11:30pm, but the other dance areas were not playing any music that I liked. I knew they would EVENTUALLY start up the EDM dance floor, but I didn’t want to wait for another hour for that to happen, especially since I was going to church in Mosgiel. I also knew I couldn’t get into any other bars without my passport, so I called it a night and hiked back to Ibrahim’s place. On the way back, I definitely did a bunch of street dancing, so it put me in a better mood. Ibrahim had texted me earlier saying he would be back so I had the place to myself once I got back.

Day 21 (Sunday) – As I needed to return to Mosgiel to attend church at 10:30 am, I got an early start at 7am. While waiting for the bus, I found another monument to the war, and I made a post about what I was about to do.

At church, I was welcomed and I actually introduced myself as Mike from Montana, as I didn’t want the pastor to know I was the same person who had passionately debated him the day before on the phone…at least not yet. Instead, I just wanted to observe what kind of church it was. It was actually VERY small (only the pastor, 13 adults and 3 children) and they used a worship CD along with one worship leader.

After worship and tithing, the pastor spoke on 2 Corinthians 8 which talks about a work of grace occurring in Macedonia that has reverberations throughout Corinthians and ultimately Jerusalem. Grace is what was breaking down walls between Jew and Gentile during that time period.

After the sermon, he launched into another sermon on processing pain. He talked about a pain that has been with him for a very long, possibly his whole life. And my heart broke for him, because he used the Joseph story to talk about his pain. He said Joseph’s pain at being betrayed by his brothers broke him and even when they returned years later and needed his help, he broke down and wept, because of all the pain. His points for how to deal with the pain you encounter in life

• Get your Bearings – Remember the bigger picture and that pain does not need to rule your life.
  • For me, this occurred on Miracle Sunday, February 4th, 2018. I realized how much God loved me, how he had always loved me, and how he had made me as a homosexual. I gained perspective on God’s love, I realized His creative power in my life, and His call on my life to preach my message – God creates homosexuals.
• Choose Honesty and Humility – The pastor said a veil had been lifted in his life and he saw things in his past, even back to the age of 12, that were continuing to haunt him to today. We all need to lift the veils and break down the walls we erect so we can honestly know ourselves.
  • For me, this occurred when I wrote My Story. I examined my life, saw it for what it truly was, a beautiful love story of God loving a homosexual boy even when he turned away and tried to pursue love in every other way.
• Make a Decision to Carry On – By carrying on, significance will return to your life, even if you now have a limp, you are alive, and you are made stronger through the things you survive. You gain perspective and experience.
  • For me, this was my summer in Montana and now my adventure in New Zealand. My life has never been more significant than now. I am sharing God’s love to everyone I come in contact with.
• Keep out Bitterness – Many wounds continue to bleed long after the initial event. It can be a long battle, but don’t let your wounds get infected with bitterness or despair. How can you keep it healthy? By choosing to forgive, and remember, forgiveness is not a one-time event, but a continual process. You will also need to step back through the pain, because you can’t heal what you can’t feel.
  • For me, this occurred as I wrote My Story. I had to relive all the good and bad of my relationship, and it was very hard to do, but ultimately, very healing. God redeemed love songs that caused me heartache and now cause me joy. I am friends with my former partner, and I can be happy for him as he finishes school. And I’m excited about love again!
• What to remember –
  • Don’t deny your pain
  • Don’t rehearse your pain
  • Don’t fight your pain (wallowing in “this shouldn’t have happened to me”)
  • Accept and Embrace your pain, incorporate it into the beautiful story about your life as God’s creation!

One of the last things the pastor said was to Embrace the Fireball. I actually laughed out loud, as I’ve often thought of myself as a fireball, especially when I am dressed as I was for this service. I had on my gray Columbia shoes, my gray Carhartt pants (representing the ash that is left by fire), my red American Giant Sweatshirt, my orange Wheaton College hat, and my red Osprey backpack. I certainly looked like a fireball, and I felt that I had walked the path of pain and healing and I was a new creation.

He ended that God is not a shoud’ve kind of god. God wants you to be healed and embrace you as His child.

After the service, there was a coffee time, and I chatted with the pastor about his church and his past experiences. Eventually, people had to get on with their days so we got up to leave. I saw these signs near the door. We met in an elementary school, so there was 100 things to do if you are bored. I liked a lot of them.

The pastors didn’t have any lunch plans, so I went with both of them to a local Indian restaurant and I got to share my story (many parts of it) and I also let the pastor know that I was the same person that called yesterday. I said I felt called by God to come to their church and let them know the truth I received on Miracle Sunday. While they were receptive to my story, I ultimately couldn’t change their minds on homosexuality. But they did give me their email address. Later that night, I emailed them a copy of my book and I’m praying it can start them to think more openly about homosexuality.

I made another video post at the end of the day, as I truly felt that God had directed my path this day.

After I made the post, I walked to Subway, got a meatball sub, and watched a few more episodes of Season 9 Ru Paul. On the way home, God gave me a final beautiful image (in the form of ANOTHER war memorial), in the form of a cross. In the second picture, you can even see my shadow reflected in the sign.

And with that, my first weekend came to a close. It was an AMAZING weekend, and it confirmed once again, WHY I am here. I am learning about myself, about other people, about what God wants me to do. And I’m convinced that I am supposed to help children and families deal with the pain in their past. Help people to heal so they aren’t bound to their demons and the horrible things that can happen to children as they grow up.

Here’s your song. It is the song on the ReDefined playlist for Sunday, September 9th, the day that ends this post. Notice the three repeating images. Before you click the link to start, try to imagine God singing this song to you. God remembers who you are…who She created you to be. Even in the dark places, there is light, from the spark deep inside us.

“I’ve seen your face before
I recognize that spark
Here in the space between
We glow in the dark, glow in the dark
I’ve seen your face before
Felt your familiar heart
Never met you, but I remember who you are
But I remember who you are”