Weston’s New Zealand and Fiji trip: Part 1

Weston’s New Zealand and Fiji trip: Part 1

In January 2012 I was talking with my parents and praying about my desire to travel internationally and do missions work. We prayed about it together and within that next month we had 3 international trips planned! The first was a trip with a group called IPS (more about them in a second) to London and Paris for 10 days, the second trip included our whole family, a good friend, my grandparents and their big band for 20 days in London again during the Olympics (to read about that, click here) and the third was with IPS to visit New Zealand and Fiji for 26 days. Gods answered my prayer in a much bigger way than I had imagined and I am so grateful for the amazing experiences. 

IPS stands for Institute of Photographic Studies. You can read all about who they are and what they do here: www.ipsphoto.co .  IPS is a Christian-based organization and teaches the technical, creative and business side of photography. I would recommend these classes to anyone interested in photography. I found that IPS had the perfect balance of hands-on work and classroom instruction for me. I would definitely say that I had a ton of fun working with the instructors and students and came away with the basics in photography well covered in a short amount of time. 

First flight on the top deck of a 747!

The trip started in LAX airport where the team met to fly as a group to New Zealand. We arrived in Auckland, NZ after over 23 hours of travel and met with Rowan and Jocelyn Gillson (our trip leaders) and headed to the campsite. I knew several of the people on the trip beforehand and became friends with the rest of the group quickly. Our group had 19 total and I was amazed at the diversity of the group but at the same time the similarities we had. Looking back on the trip now I really see how blessed the group was. The level of technical knowledge, spiritual development and photographical skills that everyone had truly added so much to the trip.

Road trips are the best with friends!

The format of the trip was to stay in hostels, campgrounds and even in camper vans and travel to a new location every few days.  We would do some sight-seeing, then spend time out and about in different cities as well as many intense projects for local businesses and ministries. It was really fun to have so many new experiences multiple times every day. I see now how our trip had supernatural favor. I don't remember a single time of being delayed or having to wait a long time for transportation or people.  Everything flowed exceptionally well. The team not only got along well together but we quickly became close friends quickly.  

Sunrise shoot on the International Dateline at Te Mata Peak,
Hawke's Bay, NZ

This trip was a great time for spiritual growth. Every day we would have some type of devotional. Sometimes our group Bible time would be 30 minutes long and other times 2 hours of praying, sharing personal stories/testimonies, and 

worshiping. There's nothing quite as encouraging as seeing other people close to my age with similar visions and a loving hearts. Something that stood out to me was what David (another group leader) talked about how we can bring heaven to earth by giving encouragement, helping with projects and be willing to serve where we could without expecting something in return. Whether it is something small or big, finding ways to give to others spiritually and physically has a much bigger long-term effect than what we comprehend. 

We only had one day of classroom instruction, 
project briefings were fast and furious!

For more info about IPS: http://www.ipsphoto.co