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.