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!