Family Reunion...Almost

The Huette Family is almost all together! As you may notice, there is still one person missing in this picture, but we HOPE we will see him tomorrow. 

Andy and Abby (and their little growing baby) have arrived safely in New Zealand. While in Los Angeles getting ready to fly out with Ryan, they encountered some issues and Ryan was not allowed go. Ryan had recently went scuba diving with his passport and it was unreadable and they would not let him leave the country as the passport would not be read and he would be sent back. 

Ryan spent the night in the LA Airport and woke up to go to the consulate in order to get a new passport. We had a nerve-wracking night waiting to hear if he was going to be able to make it. Ryan got a new passport and was able to get on the flight 24 hours later to New Zealand. 

The rest of us are leaving for Queenstown first thing in the morning so Ryan will also miss that flight. There was ONE seat left on all of the flights to Queenstown and we were able to get it for Ryan.  Now we just need to pray that his flights are on time and he makes his connections as he has very little time in between his connecting flights. 

We hope that we will finally all be together tomorrow evening, which is Christmas Eve here. We will probably not post until we get back from Queenstown, but we hope that we are all together by then, we have waited long enough! 

They're Here!!

                                                
My parents are safely on the ground in Auckland! It was a long flight from Chicago to LA to Fiji to Auckland, but they made it to Auckland just around lunch time on Monday (which is Sunday evening in the States).  We definitely turned heads at the airport with our tearful reunion and many hugs. 

For now we are just hanging out trying to keep them awake to help them get on New Zealand time.  It is so great to be together again!! 

Flashback

I am having flashbacks this week! This week feels so similar to the final week we had in our house in Rochester back in May of 07. Though we don't leave for another month, Joe and I have set an early deadline for ourselves to have a lot of our belongings packed and stored, our schedule and presentations ready for furlough (starting in January), and all of those details that need to be in line to move, finished.  

The reason? Next week the first of the Huette family arrives!!! We are so excited for my parents to arrive next week and my brothers and sister-in- law the next! We will all be together for the week around and including Christmas. In hopes to maximize our time with them, we are preparing for furlough before they get here. 

In preparation to leave, this week has felt so very similar to the last few weeks we spent at our own house in Rochester. 

This week has been filled with packing and sorting, "lasts", and meeting up with friends for farewells as we may not see them again as the holidays near, the family visits and us leaving for the States approach.  We will be coming back to Christchurch, not Auckland. Today was the last day that I will be teaching as school is letting out for the summer. This Friday is the last day of youth. We were invited away for the weekend with some friends in order to spend time together before my family gets here and we leave. We have had farewell dinners with youth and their families and a farewell lunch with the staff of Shore.    

Our to-do lists are getting checked (or ticked as Kiwis would say), our closets are getting packed, goodbyes are beginning, plans for the US are made, and our house is ready for visitors! 

Youth Leaders

In working with the youth this year at Shore Community Christian Church, we have gotten to know not only the youth, but the awesome youth leaders. We have been so blessed this year in learning form and getting to know the other leaders each Friday night at the youth events. This past Saturday Belinda, the youth minister (to the right of me in the picture) had a brunch for us to say 'thanks' for the past year. 

Even though we don't look forward to saying goodbye in the new year, we know that these friendships will always mean so much to us. We are thankful to know that we have a team of people whom we can call on whenever we need ideas for youth events, if we need help in understanding the culture/youth culture more, and when we just need a friend to chat with. We met these friends through leading at Friday night youth events but our relationships were quickly more than just Friday nights! We are thankful for all that we have learned, we only have ONE youth event left until summer break! 

Thanksgiving

Even with so much to be thankful for, we don't get Thursday off as a holiday or Friday off as a shopping day. Though Thanksgiving is not a holiday in New Zealand, we will be taking some time on Thursday to feast with our team and reflect on the many ways that God has blessed us. 

It is strange to think of the buzz of excitement that most of our friends and family in America have right now. Thinking of family get-togethers, days off work and school, traveling in the winter weather with hopes of snow flurries to help get that holiday feel, decorating for Christmas, and standing in line for those early-morning bargains seem so foreign to us right now. 

Instead of having thoughts of turkey this time of year, Kiwi's have much else going on. November in New Zealand reminds me a lot of May in the States. The end of November means exams at school, award ceremonies for end of the year accomplishments, excitement about summer plans, getting ready for summer break (starts in three weeks!) and gearing up for a wonderful and relaxing Christmas, which many Kiwis will spend on the beach. 

This thanksgiving we will feast on chicken or ham, as enough turkey to feed six people costs well over $100. We will eat kumra with raspberry and vanilla flavored marshmallows, as that is the closest we can find to sweet potatoes and white marshmallows. And if we eat pumpkin, it will most likely be as a vegetable, as the idea of sweet pumpkin (or canned pumpkin pie filling) isn't common in New Zealand.  Though our feast will look different than yours in many ways, and though we may be worlds apart, we all still have so much to be thankful for. Enjoy your turkey-day, your families, and this upcoming holiday season! 

Congrats, CHAMPS!

CHAMPS is after school program that I help with on Tuesdays. This has been a very unique experience for me as it has given me opportunity to see how after school programming is run in New Zealand and in a Pacific Island culture as well as given me a chance to interact with many different people in the community. 

CHAMPS began about two years ago when the Housing Corporation of New Zealand saw a need in the community. The community that CHAMPS is in is a government housing area that was falling apart. Students as young as seven and eight years old were getting involved with gangs and causing trouble in the community. Students began dressing in colors and 'pretending' to be in gangs. 

In an effort to change this mentality and to offer the students a positive activity alternative, one of the Housing New Zealand staff members decided to try her hand at giving the students a place to hang out after school. This program started in a neighborhood garage with a handful of students who wanted somewhere safe to go after school. 

Now, over two years later, the CHAMPS program has changed it's community! Parents, teens, and students alike have come together for the common cause of giving young students in the neighborhood a positive place to hang out. This program went from a handful of students to over sixty kids who meet at a school hall. We have games, food, and encourage good morals through teaching a word of the day such as "courage" or "honesty". 

The attitude of these students who were once "playing gangs" has changed to an attitude that cares about their community and wants to see positive change. The students and volunteers refer to this program as one big whanau or family. 

The CHAMPS program was recently nominated for a community excellence award for the work that is taking place. On Friday evening I joined the other volunteers who help with CHAMPS at an awards evening. The CHAMPS program won! We were all very excited and proud of the program. For winning we received an amazing prize of different sports equipment and games for the program--we had none before!

We are excited to share the good news with the students on Tuesday. Congrats, CHAMPS, you are doing great things for the youth in the community! 

Year One

(November 3rd 2007, St. Louis Airport) 

This week marked an entire year that we have been in New Zealand! Looking back over the past year, we are amazed at all of our experiences. At times we can't believe that we have been away from friends, family and familiar USA for one year. More often we are amazed at how we feel at home, have made wonderful friends, find that most things in NZ are now familiar, and have accomplished so much in just one year.

This week  with our team we had a time of reflecting on how God has carried us through every bit of our journey. We are confident that as we begin the next leg of our journey, he will do the same. 

Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, support, and encouragement! This has been, without a doubt, one of the hardest and most exciting years of our lives, we couldn't have kept on without knowing that you were right behind us, encouraging us along the way. 

We Did It!

On Sunday we completed our first half-marathon (21 kilometers/13miles). We had been training for months for this race with a group of our friends. 

Sunday was a beautiful day and the race was so much fun as we ran across the Harbour Bridge and into the city center. We started the day at 4:00 am with a good breakfast and then met our running pals at 5:00 to catch a bus to the starting line for a 6:30 start.  After the race we had a BBQ with our running mates to celebrate. 

Both Joe and I are pleased with our times, Joe at 1:54:15 and me at 1:57:15. 

Many people said that we would never want to run again after the race but we both feel great. It was a great experience for us and such a great way to grow closer with some friends through running together every weekend. Thanks to Nate for doing such a great job organizing and coaching all of us in the last couple of months. 

The official pictures will be posted soon. 

Cultural Cue #4 - The "OE"

The "OE" is something that many Kiwis between the ages of 17-30 do for at least a few months. An "OE" can be done alone, with friends, or in multiple places, but is almost always exciting. An "OE" is encouraged and even expected among many people ages 17-30. 

So what is an "OE"? 

An "OE" is an Overseas Experience. Most of our friends (in NZ) have had an OE for at least a year. This is a very different concept for us, being from a culture where you finish high school, go to college, get a job, without much of a break in between. There are people that have done their OE's as soon as they leave high school and others have waited until they got married. 

Recently a student from the youth group was asking my advice about what she should do with her life. She is in her last year of high school and was thinking about leaving early. (It is acceptable to leave high school after you turn 16 and receive your leavers certificate as a form of a diploma. In fact only about 25% of students complete every year of high school.) She wanted to leave early to go travel in Europe, maybe America, and then end back in London where she could work for a while. It was either this or finish school and go to university.

The first thought that popped into my head was "I think you should finish school, go to university, get your degree, and then travel." That idea and life schedule is very out of the norm for most teenagers and young adults in New Zealand- I was struck at that point with another way that the New Zealand and American cultures are different. 

Many of the students in the youth group are looking forward to leaving high school and traveling around the world. It's not that they don't want to go to university or get a job or settle someday, but they want to get other life experience through traveling. Many students will leave high school and work for one or two years and use that money to fund their OE.

Part of the idea of the OE might also be from living in such a small country. New Zealand, being roughly the same size and population of the state of Colorado, is located quite far from any major travel destinations. Kiwis are interested in seeing the rest of the world, but it often takes a couple days of travel to get anywhere other than Australia. Many Kiwis we know have only seen the part of the country that they live in as they use vacation time to explore the rest of the world. 

The people of New Zealand and very global people. We have learned so much about other cultures and countries since living here. We really enjoy how our minds have been opened to the world in such a unique way. 

He's Back...

Our fearless team leader is back! Hamish arrived home early Friday morning and we were able to catch up with him as a team on Saturday. It was great to debrief about his time in the States and to be back together as an entire team.

As you may remember, Hamish left for this fundraising trip with fourteen meetings. It was our goal and our prayer to get twenty meetings during his two weeks in the States. God is so faithful. As soon as Hamish was on his way, we began to hear back from more churches and before we knew it, his fourteen meetings had grown to twenty!

We saw God's hand all over this trip and it served as such a reminder to us of God's faithfulness. We prayed for twenty meetings and God provided. We prayed for gas prices to go down during Hamish's time of travel and they did. We prayed for safety and energy as Hamish was waking up as early as 3:30 in the morning to make it to meetings and traveling all over the mid-west for a couple of meetings a day.

Now, we are praying as these churches and mission commitees are deciding if a partnership with our new church is possible for them right now. We know that God will provide, even if it is different than we ever imagined. Will you join us in praying for the partnerships that will help our new church get started?

Cultural Cue # 3- Grab a Cuppa

Being a coffee drinker in New Zealand is not an option, there is coffee and tea everywhere! Wellington, the capital city, actually boasts of having the most coffee shops per capital of anywhere else in the world. If you are ever in need of a caffeine fix, you don't need to look far. 

As much as coffee is a part of the culture, I think that it goes deeper than just the drink. Kiwis are very relational and hold hospitality and community as high values. Often times, the act of 'grabbing a cuppa', or getting a coffee, is a way to catch up on life,  a way to meet with people, or a way to be hospitable.

 

We have noticed that turning someone down for a cup of coffee can come across as rude or even inconsiderate. Oftentimes when you stop by someone's house, they will ask you in for a cuppa. Not accepting that invite can convey to the would be host that the task you are doing is more important than your relationship with them. As American's we have said no to coffee invites in the past because we were on our way to an event, in the middle of running errands, or didn't want to be late.  We have now learned that the value of relationship is held much higher than the value of being on time or completing your errands, now we always accept the offer to sit down and 'have a cuppa.' The opposite holds true as well, if someone stops by your house, you should always be ready to offer them a hot drink and expect a visit for a while. 

Coffee is something that Kiwis love and it seems to be something that brings them together. Morning tea, coffee breaks, and coffee groups are all very important parts of life in New Zealand. At school, when the students have their morning tea, all of the teachers meet in the lounge for coffee to talk each morning. For new parents, there are different coffee groups that are created to help give you a support network. And even after we run with our running group, we have started drinking coffee- this one is still hard for me to get used to! 

The coffee craze seems like more than just a recent trend in New Zealand, but an important part of culture and life. 

Christchurch

Here are some pictures of Christchurch, the city that we are moving to to start the church. Enjoy looking through them, hopefully you will feel like you know Christchurch a bit better! Thank you Nate and Whitney for sharing your photos from your recent trip to Christchurch. 

Fundraising Trip

Our courageous team leader, Hamish Taylor, left New Zealand yesterday to fly to the States for a two week fundraising trip. Hamish is such a sacrificial and willing leader. He is leaving behind his wife and baby for two weeks to represent our team and our vision to at least fourteen different churches who might be interested in partnering financially with our new church. 

Hamish and Molly made lunch for our team on Monday before we had a time of prayer for Hamish and his trip. 

The churches that are interested in meeting with us are in Ohio and Indiana. At this time, we have fourteen churches, it is our goal to have Hamish meet and share our vision for Christchurch with twenty churches or people. We have had a few last minute cancelations this week, but pray that we will not have any more. 

Will you join us in prayer for this trip? 

Please pray for safety for Hamish as he will be driving around Ohio and Indiana for the next two weeks. 

Please pray for the entire Taylor family as they are separated for the next two weeks. 

Please pray that God will open doors at these meetings and that these meetings will be a catalyst in raising the funds we need to start the new church. 

Please pray for six more meetings, we are hoping for a total of twenty meetings. 

Praise God for the way he has provided for this trip through meetings with churches, plane tickets, and accommodation for Hamish while he is in the States. 

Thanks for your prayers! Our team wants to make sure that Hamish knows we are behind him, thinking of him, and encouraging him.  We sent Hamish on his way with letters to open each day for encouragement. We also made him a scavenger hunt to complete along his travels that includes taking pictures of things in the States that our team misses. If you want to send Hamish a bit of encouragement or a prayer, feel free to email him at kiwiwithacause@yahoo.com to let him know he is in your prayers. We look forward to updating you with the success of his trip! 

Cultural Cue # 2 - School

It has been interesting learning about school in New Zealand. Now that I am able to be at a school from time to time, I have learned even more. Similar to the States, the school year dictates a lot that happens in the community. 

The School Year 

The school year starts in February, the end of summer, and ends in December, the beginning of summer.  There are four nine week terms, and in between each term there is a two week holiday. A lot of families take advantage of the two week holiday to go on a trip. There are also activities called Holiday Programs that help keep kids active and occupied during the school holidays. 

The school year doesn't start in February for everyone though. Most students in the States look forward to their first day of Kindergarten. In New Zealand, Kindergarten or Kindy, is more like pre school or day care. The first year of school in New Zealand is called year zero or new entrant level. Students start school on their fifth birthday unless it is over the holidays and then they would start at the beginning of the next term. This means that year zero has students starting all year long. At the end of the year the teacher decides if they are ready to move on to year one or if they should stay in new entrant another year. 

The School Day

Teaching and instruction is quite different in New Zealand than in the states. There is very little whole group instruction but there is a lot of small group interaction between the teachers and the students. 

Most all schools in New Zealand require students to wear uniforms. Occasionally there will be a "mufty" day where students can wear clothing of their choice. 

It is also very important the students are able to have time to replenish and use up their energy. For primary school, after a fifteen minute fitness break in the morning, the students have fruit break where they get to eat fresh fruit brought form home to help fuel their brains. Around 11:00, they students get a break for morning tea, again, brought from home. After morning tea there is a thirty minute recess. The students come back to learn for a little over an hour and then go to lunch and recess for fifty minutes. After lunch, there is only one hour left in the school day. Schools in New Zealand do not have cafeterias, the students all bring lunch from home and sit outside to eat. If it is rainy, they sit under an awning. 

Can you imagine a students from America and New Zealand switching places? I am amazed at the differences in schools,  I find more each time I relieve, or substitute.

Quick Catch Up

I know it's been longer than usual since our last blog post...sorry! We are in the middle of a few projects and were hoping to be able to post them, but you will have to wait in suspense!

Life has been very busy but very normal lately which usually doesn't make for any interesting news on the blog, but here is a glance at what we have been working on. 

I had my last day of Mainly Music this week. Next week is the end of the third term with a two week break in school so most activities are wrapping up for the term. As part of our exit strategy, I will not be returning to Mainly Music for the last term. Mainly Music has been a great opportunity for me to learn about outreach and ministry for mums and children. 

I have also continued to relieve, or substitute, at schools about once a week. This has been such a learning experience! I have loved getting to know the students and teachers. It is fun seeing kids around the neighborhood and being recognized as 'Mrs. Flammer.' 

In addition to his regular youth events and planning, Joe has been preparing for a sermon he is giving next Friday night at a youth event for another church in town. Joe has also been working on making contacts in the States as we begin to work on raising ministry funds. This is always an interesting task since the middle of the day for our contacts, is the middle of the night for us! 

Joe is also helping out at church for our family service this week. He is leading the youth in a drama that they will be doing. This is a first for Joe but is seems like he is doing a great job! 

As a team, we are in an entire new stage. Our meetings have shifted from research about cities and discussion on survey work to planning the church. This is such an exciting time for us! We have been reading as many books as we can get our hands on, talking to experienced people, and trying to piece together our dreams, thoughts and visions into something coherent to work with. It is so great to be able to plan knowing that we are going to Christchurch.

Hamish will be making a quick, two week trip to the States in October. He will be visiting quite a few churches in that time and sharing with them our vision for Christchurch with hopes for them to partner with us. We have been busy as a team preparing for his trip and presentations. 

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we work on plans for the new church and finish up our responsibilities here. We are at Shore in an official capacity until the first of December but are beginning our exit strategies now to lessen the gap. Thanks for keeping up with us! 

Culture Cues

One of the main things that we were supposed to do this first year in New Zealand was learn the culture. The best way that we have found to do that is to completely immerse ourselves in culture. Over the next couple of weeks, or maybe months, I will attempt to share with you what we have learned about New Zealand. Many of these things are normal to us now and we don't think much of them. If you disagree and think New Zealand culture is not so normal, we'd love to hear what you think! 

Cultural Cue #1: Hours of Operation

Almost all businesses, stores, cafes and even many restaurants are closed by six in the evening, some even earlier! This took a lot of getting used to. What about people who work until 6? Don't worry, Thursday night is late night and the shops stay open until 8pm! Supermarkets have recently begun staying open later and there is even one 24 hour supermarket in all of Auckland.

In addition to early closing times, sometimes you will go to a shop/restaurant/business during their regular hours of operation and there will be a sign up that says the shop is closed but will reopen soon. I have actually learned to appreciate those signs compared to the alternative- the shop just isn't open though the posted hours show that it should be. 

As you can imagine, both of these cultural aspects have led to frustrations on certain days. However, we have learned to enjoy evenings without the distractions of shopping and running errands. Now we just plan ahead even better than before to avoid grocery emergencies.

You might be thinking "What should my response to this be?" Well let me submit one to you: 

The next time you are at a store after 6pm, make the most of it. You never know when you might move to New Zealand! 

Survey Says...We've made a decision!!

After 8 months of survey work, many hours of discussion and heaps of prayer, our team has finally come to a decision!! We are going to be starting the new church plant in the northeast part of Christchurch. This is so exciting for us! We even have to location narrowed down to the exact area of the city. 

We are committed at Shore Community Christian Church in an official capacity until December first of this year. Our team also has visitors coming in December (for us, the entire Huette family!!!). Those factors, combined with the way that life slows down and almost stops in the summer here (summer starts in December), mean that we will wait to leave Auckland until January. 

We praise God for his provision, guidance, and the way that he unified six minds. Though this year has looked different than we had planned, we can not deny God's hand in our work. Originally, we did not plan to start survey work until January of '09, but due to less responsibilities than we anticipated on our internship, we were able to get a head start on that timeline! 

Will you join us now in praying for the people of Christchurch?  

Back to School

On Wednesday I had my first day of school as a teacher! A few blogs ago I mentioned that my qualifications had been approved and that I was able to begin teaching. The process from there is very simple. Last week I walked into a school and told them I was interested in relieving, or substitute teaching. I was directed to the deputy principal who said that they always needed relievers. I was called later that afternoon and asked to relieve! 

Teachers in New Zealand generally get a reliever one day a week so that they can plan and not have to teach. This means that there is high demand for relievers. There is also a huge teacher shortage in Auckland, and in New Zealand in general right now so this also contributes to the high need for relievers. 

Though it is the beginning of the school year for the States, it is the third quarter here. The students were in their routine and I had a very laid back day with year one, which is six year olds, in the morning and year 4, which is 9 year olds, in the afternoon. I had so much fun learning yet another part of New Zealand as I spent the day at school. I was again reminded about how laid back this country is! 

There were a lot of differences between the classrooms I was at in the States and this school, but it might be too soon to make any conclusions to those differences! I will keep you posted as I (hopefully) continue to relieve one or two days a week now that we are done with our survey work. 

Pray for New Zealand

Today there is a parade going on in Auckland, but we will not be going. This parade was started a few years back to help boost enthusiasm about the porn industry in New Zealand. The name of the parade is "Boobs on Bikes." If that leaves you guessing, here is a little more info: 

This parade is a topless parade approved by the city council that goes through the streets of Auckland and Christchurch. This parade is for prostitutes, homosexuals, and people in the porn industry to gather interest and promote their lifestyles. As you may have guessed, most of the women in the parade are wearing close to nothing as they promote what they stand for. 

It has been interesting to hear the news this week talking about the pros and cons of this parade. In some ways, weather the parade happened or not, the purpose has already been achieved. There have been scenes on the news of the parade from last year which gave us a pretty clear shot of what was going on as nothing was blurred out. 

Will you continue to pray with us on how we can best reach a nation that has fallen so far from God? Pray for the men, women and children who are affected not just by this parade, but by the lifestyles that are being celebrated. 

yum yum yum

I recently found two foods that are brand new in New Zealand that have Joe and I very excited! 

The first one was a staple for us when we lived in the States, we were always stocked with these as they are a great on -the-go snack. While we were on the South Island I was at a supermarket and spotted these:

I was so excited, but I thought it must be something that only the South Island had, which didn't make a lot of sense to me. When we got home I saw that the supermarkets in Auckland were carrying the Nature Valley bars now too! 

The other thing we found was very exciting. New Zealand has very good ice cream but a more limited selection of flavours. I found this ice cream last week that has cookie dough (or it is supposed to but I have yet to spot a good cookie dough chunk!) in it! It also has other cookie bits. It tastes a little like Ben and Jerry's! We have been enjoying this new ice cream a lot! 

Our interest in foods and our ability to get some foods hasn't been too hard for us to adjust to. We have been content with whatever we can find, but these two new things are a nice addition to what New Zealand has to offer. I am still waiting on a Taco Bell and I think Joe is looking for some good pizza, but we have found other foods that we didn't eat much of in the States that we now love here! 

I've Been Assessed!

At the end of January I began gathering together a lot of different official documents from the States to send in to the New Zealand Qualifications Assessment team. The purpose in this was to get my degrees assessed to see what I needed to do in order to teach in New Zealand. This process that typically takes about one month is finally completed...seven months later! It was a very long process of waiting but I have been assessed and I am now qualified to teach in New Zealand without needing any further training! This means I can begin teaching as soon as a school needs a reliever, or a substitute. I plan on visiting schools this week to see where I can begin! 

Home Sweet Home!

Sometimes, it just feels so good to be home. After being away for 11 days, it definitely felt good to be home! I think we all felt as tired as Laney and Liam.

This survey trip was different than our first round of trips. We spent a lot more time looking at specific areas and trends in Christchurch and Wellington to help us know which area of each city would be a potential spot for the church plant. We spent considerably less time in the city centers and much more time in the suburbs, looking at each church and talking to as many people as we could to get a feel for the atmosphere of each suburb. I think the team left seeing a lot of the same things and encouraged by what we found and heartbroken for the people in each city who seem so lost. 

(View of Wellington from the water front) 

Along with all of our work, we had many other happenings this time! This was our first survey trip in which we had intentional times of prayer happening and we needed it! We had hundreds of people praying for our team from all around the world, we couldn't have made it through the trip without the prayers. Thank you! 

(Cathedral Square in Christchurch) 

Joe and I left Auckland a few days early to get some time away before the rest of the team arrived. We intended to go snow-skiing for a day, but the night we arrived the Christchurch area received a meter (3 feet) of snow so the mountain was closed! We got to ski for half of the next day instead. While we were in Christchurch, Auckland was preparing for some of the worst weather that is has seen in ten years! Loads of rainfall, 130kmph winds, and some pretty bad storms. Although many flights were cancelled, both of the other couples were able to make it to Christchurch on schedule, but the weather continued to work its way through the country. 

After just arriving in Christchurch, Hamish, our team leader, received word that his grandfather passed away. Being from New Zealand, he was able to leave for part of the trip to be at the funeral with his family. The rest of the team stayed and finished up work in Christchurch. On our last day there, Whitney came down with a high fever and became ill. Joe, Nate, and I worked to keep Whitney healthy, Laney happy, and get all of us to the airport on time as not to miss our flights to Wellington. I flew with Nate and Whitney and Laney while Joe was on a flight that left 20 minutes later, originally with Hamish and Molly and Liam, who had already left. Joe's flight got delayed but he did make it to Wellington only a little later! 

We had other events that made our trip exciting like power-outages, car trouble, and misplaced keys! We were all ready to be home! 

All in all, it was an exciting trip and we learned a lot. We are excited to see how God uses our experiences from the last week, both good and not so good, to teach us! We will be doing our final survey work in West Auckland and will know where we are going by September 1st! 

 

Travel Time

We leave tomorrow, (Thursday for us) to head down to Christchurch. Next week we will be hitting Christchurch and Wellington for a second round of survey trips. We have some more strategic events planned to help us better understand not only the culture of the cities, but of suburbs and areas of interests in each city. The purpose of this trip is to narrow our efforts into one spot in one of these cities that we think would be best suited for a new church. We will look at one more city when we get back. 

Joe and I are going down to Christchurch two days earlier than the team. We are taking Friday and Saturday as a mini-holiday and a time to relax. We will be spending Friday skiing on the Southern Alps and Saturday will most likely be spent recovering and enjoying some of the more fun parts of Christchurch. We are looking forward to a couple of days away before our big week of survey work. 

Between the three couples on our team, there will be over 72 hours of prayer done by our partners during our time on this survey trip. Our partners will be praying for specific things with us as we are on these important survey trips. Are you interested in being a part of this prayer vigil? If so, just contact us at joeandamy654@yahoo.com to let us know when you would like to prayer. We are asking for prayers on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. If you would like a prayer guide just let us know and we will send you one. It may take a couple of days since we will be traveling. 

Thanks for keeping up with us! We will update you when we get back! 

Darkenss

"If God is dead, then all things are permissible." 

- Fyodor Dostoevsky

 Too many people in New Zealand are acting under this assumption. We recently heard a Kiwi speak on such a topic and it reminded us again about why we are here. 

The spiritual darkness in New Zealand can be overwhelming at times. Since we have lived here, it has hit us in waves. We continually pray that God will break our hearts for this country and for the people here, and we see it happening. 

There are so many statistics that caught our attention before we moved here, but now we are seeing those statistics come to life in the people that we interact with, and it is breaking our hearts. We are seeing children and adults who are scarred by divorce and abuse, churches that are closing their doors, and an alarming increase in the random acts of crime, and people looking for answers. 

It seems like every week there is a heinous and senseless criminal act reported on. This week a young girl in our town was taken from her home by a mysterious masked man. These random acts of crime are beginning to hit home more and more, with many people in our community very worried. Our hearts continue to break for this country as we pray for it's redemption. 

A few weeks ago the movie Prince Caspian had its debut in New Zealand (I know, old news for the States, but it was filmed in New Zealand!) Our church booked a theater to view it and then heard a lecture (by Dr. Adam Claasen) on the biblical meanings behind the movie. This lecture, or sermon, was one of my favorite ones, I have listened to it a few times now. In this sermon, Dr. Claasen compared New Zealand and the people here to Narnia. He gave some alarming statistics about the correlation between the declining amount of Christians and the increasing amount of crime and violence. 

I would like to encourage you to listen to the Prince Caspian Sermon. (You can do so by clicking on the underlined words.) If you haven't seen the movie, you may want to watch it first, but if not, you will still understand the sermon. It is about 35 minutes long, so it will take some time. Listen to it as you are getting ready in the morning or making dinner or cleaning the house (that's what I have been doing!) As you are doing so, listen for what is being said about the state of New Zealand. 

When you finish, would you take a minute to pray for New Zealand? Please pray for the people here and for us as we long to show them the Love of God in a practical way that will change their lives. Please pray for our safety and our faith as we endure this darkness each day. 

Reunion

Since out team retreat we have been working on a lot, but have not had the chance to be together as a whole team. We have had many meetings with various leaders and experts about our church planting strategy and also about our plant locations. We are working diligently to make this process come together in a timely and effective manner. 

Last night we were finally together as a whole team! We had dinner together and just hung out for a while enjoying each other's company and the precious little ones. 

Please continue praying with us as we prepare to visit Christchurch and Wellington at the end of the month. Pray for unity in what we see and for God to lead us to a specific spot in one of these cities that will be perfect for our team to start the church. 

Fourth of July Weekend

So the Fourth of July doesn't mean much to the average Kiwi, but we still had a busy weekend, so why not call it "Fourth of July Weekend?" We missed being a part of the many activities that my family does on the fourth, but enjoyed our weekend just the same. 

As July marks some of the warmest days of the summer in the States, the opposite is true here. The weekend brought with it some of the coldest days we have seen yet. We do our best to stay warm and bundled up. 

Friday night we helped with a lock-in or an all nighter with the youth. There were over 50 students there and many activities

.

 Joe was in charge of planning  many of the activities for the evening and the students really seemed to enjoy them. Joe introduced the students to the "Gallon Challenge" - which is where you try to drink a gallon of milk in an hour without any of it coming back up. He renamed it the "Two Liter Lactose Eater" since there are not gallons in NZ. Two liters is about half a gallon so he challenged four students to drink the two liters in half an hour. Not only did they have to chug milk, but he got them flavored milk-lime, banana, strawberry, and chocolate. There was one girl who did not vomit, the others did but seemed to enjoy it.

     

The night was full of students doing crazy things, but all seemed to have fun! There was a bounce house, disco-dance room, Sing Star karaoke, movies, pizza, and many other fun things that accompany an all nighter. Needless to say we spent the first part of Saturday catching up on sleep! 

Sunday marked the last official day for Joe and I working in the children's ministry on Sunday mornings. We have enjoyed our time there but are excited to see the new leaders take over. Sunday was also a special day at church becuase Liam was dedicated. It is so amazing to watch our team mates and their new families!

                

Next Steps

Since arriving in New Zealand there have been certain milestones that we have been looking forward to. It seems as though we have hit many of these milestones and are now moving forward into our next steps. 

Last week our team spent two days in a team planning retreat. We are excited about how much we were able to accomplish and feel blessed by the way God continues to lead us forward. The first accomplishment of our retreat was narrowing down the ten cities centers that we have been surveying to three cities that we feel like have the most need for a new church plant. We had people all around the world praying for this decision and we could tell by the ease in which this decision was made. The three cities that we ended up with after the retreat were Christchurch, Wellington, and West Auckland. 

Some other things we worked on during the retreat were  making a timeline for the beginning of the church up to the next church that will start as a result as this first church. We also came up with a strategy to reach non christians and de-churched people. We made a general strategy and then narrowed it down to specifics for each of the cities on the list. Though we will end up in only one city, we are looking at different strategies to help us understand each place better.

We were able to begin a budget for our church and cover some other smaller topics. We ended Saturday morning with a meeting with our management team over the internet to fill them in of the accomplishments of the retreat. We were encouraged by their responses to the decisions that we made. 

One of the less intense parts of the retreat was the pleasant distraction offered to us by sweet Liam and Laney! It is such a joy to have these new team members!  

                                              

                                                

Team Retreat

Our team has set aside the next two days to do some specific planning. We have finished visiting each of the ten potential city centers and will be narrowing down these ten cities to three or less that would be a good fit for our team to plant a church. We will be spending a lot of time in prayer and a lot of time reviewing each of the reports we have written on the cities we have visited. At the end of the two days we hope to have a more specific plan of what our church will look like, how we will go about launching it, and many of the logistics of starting a church.  In addition to this, we will begin planning the next trips to the few cities that we feel are the cities of biggest need. We will end on Saturday morning with a meeting via internet with our management team. 

Would you pray for us over the next couple of days? Please pray for...

...wisdom in our decisions about the new church.

...unity in our discussions and decisions.

...energy for the other couples on our team as they are still adjusting to new babies. 

...perseverance as there is much to plan and six different minds coming together to work! 

...the cities that we will be choosing. 

Thank you for your prayers! We will be sure to give you an update after the weekend! 

Visitors!

This week we had our first visitors from the States! My best friend, Abby (Harris) Clark, and her husband Andy, who works at Northside Christian Church are here! Northside partners with us in our ministry here and wanted to come check out New Zealand and what we are up to. We have had a busy week so far and still have a lot planned. They have gotten a chance to see a lot of our normal life acrivities in addition to spending some time in the city and seeing some sites. Today they helped us finish our last day of survey work!

In addition to an exciting week with our visitors, Nate and Whitney, our team mates, had their baby girl! Meet Lane Marie Hutchison!

More about our week later!

See What We Have Done...

Here is a short video that I made as an update of what we are doing in New Zealand. I hope you like it.

4 Years in 6 Minutes or Less...

Yesterday, June 5, marked 4 years of marriage for Amy and I. As a gift, on a limited budget, I tinkered with on of my new hobbies. Nate, our team mate, is an wizard of video editing and has been teaching me a few new tricks. I decided to make Amy a video, nothing fancy, just some pictures, to commemorate this occasion. She wanted me to share it with all of you guys. Here ya go.

Champs

A couple of weeks ago I began volunteering at an after school program called "Champs." This has been a great opportunity for me since it is similar to what I did in the States. This program is part of the Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC.) HNZC is a community renewal program that finds neighborhoods in need and then sends representatives to set up office in one of the houses in the area. 

The renewal is a five year process where they begin to clean up the community through training, teaching,  and restoring the people of the community. The area that I am working in is in Northcote, which is about a ten minute drive from our house. 

This is an area of about three blocks of government housing that has become a very rough area. Before Christmas, some primary school children were 'pretending' that they were in gangs. They were dressing in certain colors and doing certain things that were very realistic, even though these young children were just pretending. 

One of the employees of HNZC decided that these kids needed a positive outlet for their energy with role models who could possibly help steer them clear of the gang scene. She began hosting a program for primary school children two days a week called Champs. Champs has been a success thus far as there are many kids involved in the program. These kids are amazing! 

I am learning so much by being a part of Champs. Most of the children are Pacific Islanders, which means that they have a very different culture than what I am used to! 

It has been so much fun getting to know the kids and learning about their lives. I am also starting to get to know some of the other volunteers. Many of the volunteers live in the community of the program; it is really cool to see community members getting on board with HNZC to help make their community a better place for themselves and the children. Here are some pictures from the program: 

Here is a picture with me and some of the girls learning Mau Rakau (ma-u-rah-koo). Mau Rakau it is like Maori martial arts. Mau Rakau means 'skilled use of weapons'- not sure how skilled I am yet!

This is how you are supposed to swing the stick to strike you opponent. We are getting trained how to defend as well. The defense in this move is to jump over the weapon or stick.

Two of the boys taking a break from playing! 

Some of the older boys playing Touch-touch rugby that is, but 'touch' and 'rugby' are seen as two completely different games- I am still learning!  The kids in the background are playing cricket. 

Mid-Winter Christmas Party

Though the days are getting longer and the sun is out more frequent for most of you in the States, our days are very short and with each day the weather gets cooler and cooler. In honor of winter, the youth group had a mid- winter RED Christmas Party last night! The party was complete with Christmas trees, Christmas dinner, Christmas crackers, which are a popular party toy at Christmas time, Christmas music, dancing and prizes! The theme other than Christmas was that everyone had to wear red! Here are some pictures from the evening:

This is Devon, he won the prize for wearing the most red!

 

This is a picture of a game we played. It is similar to a pinata, but instead of something hanging with candy in it and kids hitting it with a plastic bat, this game is different. For this game the kids get a 2x4 and have to hit the clay pot to bust it open and there is a bag of lollies (candy) inside! It was interesting to us! 

On The Rise

The United States are not alone in their soaring oil prices. In the six months we have been here, we have seen gas prices go up at least forty-five cents. This may not sound like alot, but that would be per liter, not per gallon. The picture of the Caltex Gas Station sign probably catches your eye with how inexpensive gas seems here. Just to help clarify, that would be $2.00 a liter that this sign advertises for. There are four liters to a gallon which makes gas $8.00 NZD a gallon! This would be $6.32 USD! 

What do people here do? We have noticed that most people live, work, and shop all in their same community. Very few people drive very far to do daily activities. We have also noticed that if something costs too much here, people just won't do it. 

We have tried to be conscious about combining trips as well as cutting out our visits into the city for now. We filled our gas tank last week and the $101.00 ( for about 17 gallons) we paid will help keep us in one spot for a bit! 

Encouragement

Today was a long day. Our team meetings and survey meetings have been filled with some bigger decisions and some very deep and important discussion about strategy, timing, and future steps. These are all good discussions but when they are over, we are usually quite (mentally) exhausted.

Tonight after a long day of discussion we had some friends over for dinner. They had also had a long day and we really enjoyed just relaxing together. Before they left they asked if they could pray for us and our team.

Their prayer was so encouraging! They prayed for exactly what we are in needof right now, peace about where God wants us to be, clarity about deciding on the right place, and unity for our team in making such big decisions. Their prayer was filled with the spirit as they prayed in such detail about our lives, our ministry, our relationships, and our calling.

When they left we felt such a sense of peace and were so energized by their zeal for God's work.

We know that many of you are also praying for us as we continue on to the next steps of our work in New Zealand. Please know that your prayers mean so much to us! Thank you for keeping up with us and with what God is doing in New Zealand.

Hamilton

We spent two days in Hamilton at the end of last week conducting survey work. Hamilton was the eighth city on our list. Hamilton is a city of almost 180,000 about a two hour drive south of Auckland. 

We did our typical survey work in meeting with school leaders, church leaders, and making connections with people that we met in our street interviews throughout the community. Hamilton is home to University of Waikato which is home to about 10,000 students. 

Hamilton is a very multi-cultural city, the most diverse of all of the city centers that we have visited. Were able to see this diversity played out in the malls we conducted street interviews at, the school we visited, and the net-ball game we went to. 

We came away from Hamilton without any strong feelings one way or the other, but the same overall sense that like so many other places in New Zealand, there is a lack of strong and healthy churches in this city. 

Here is a picture of the four of us that went to Hamilton next to the Waikato River, the longest river in New Zealand! This is our Rock-Star pose, we know, we are cool! 

Cooking Class

One of the interesting things in moving to New Zealand has been adjusting to some of the food. Most of the food is similar, but the combinations that people use are very different! It has been fun to learn about the different ways that Kiwis cook. 

I have a friend that had vouchers for a cooking class and invited me to join her. We had a lovely time! Though the cuisine was Mediterranean, I still think it was very Kiwi-lots of lamb, seafood, and cream! Here are a few of the dishes: 

Lamb and Fig Tagine served with Spiced Couscous

This was good and something that I would make at home. I might not use such big figs! But a rather practical recipe for Lamb.

Spanish Paella with Chicken, Seafood, and Chorizo

Let's be honest. It was a big step for me to do fish and chips when we moved here. This is taking it a bit far. I stuck with the rice and choizos and tried to avoid the part that looked like the bottom of a fishing boat. Probably won't be making this one! 

We did two other mains, a Suquet with Clams, which I (surprisingly) really liked. We also did Paupiettes of Beef with Pate and Mushrooms. This was also good and another practical dish, though I would substitute the pate for something a bit more appetizing, such as Garlic and Feta Hummus! 

The desserts were delicious! 

Vanilla and Chocolate Bavarois

Fantastic! 

The other dessert was a lemon tart

Here is a picture of Rochelle and I enjoying our food! 

In addition to learning more about Kiwi food, it was such a fun way to meet so many other women from around the Auckland area! 

We are off to Hamilton tomorrow (for 2 days) for survey trip number 8! More on Hamilton when we get back.

Learn the Lingo: Full-on

You may notice that it has been a slow week for us on blogger-that would be because we have had a very busy week and a full-on weekend. Full-on is a term commonly used by Kiwis. 

full-on (adj.)

1. possessing a particular quality to the fullest extent 

2. all-out, taken to the limits

She was full-on while training for her race. 

In order to better describe to you full-on, here is a glimpse at our weekend: 

Friday was our regular all day team survey day. We didn't go anywhere but we had a meeting with an expert in the Auckland area as well as some in depth discussion about the next phases of our work here. 

For youth Friday night we had a Guys Night/Girls Night...

The girls did Karaoke, had a make-over, ambushed the boys, and laughed...a lot! 

The boys played video games, cards, ate a lot of food, and got ambushed by the girls! 

 I went to a "Kichen Tea" on Friday night for my friend Maxine. Maxine is getting married and a Kitchen Tea is similar to a Bridal Shower. 

We had some friends, Chris, Abby, Charis, and Ethan,  in from Tauranga, about two hours south of Auckland. They stayed with us Friday night and Saturday. We had a team lunch with them really enjoyed having them around for the weekend.

On Saturday, we went to a pajama party themed birthday party for our friends in West Auckland.  Their daughter turned 3! 

Joe was not able to go because he was with the guys on our team meeting with a developer to learn more about one of the areas in which we are looking at to start a church. 

Saturday night was another party! We went to a going away party for our friend, Rochelle, who will be traveling through the US and Europe for the next six months. 

Sunday was a very exciting day for us. In addition to our regular Sunday

 morning responsibilities, Joe was able to help with a baptism. 

Yutak, the one getting baptized,  is a boy that Joe mentors. Josh, the boy helping with the baptism is another boy that Joe mentors, they are in Joe's life group. 

After church, we went to lunch with Bree and Antonia. 

These girls have been coming along to church for just under a year and are amazing girls! They had some great questions about Christianity. We were able to talk with them for a few hours and hopefully help answer their questions. It was so cool to be able to share God's word with these girls in a way that spoke truth to their lives. 

We finished Sunday afternoon with a nap! Our full-on weekend was exhausting!