Two Months Abroad

hey everyone, this past weekend marked our two month anniversary in New Zealand! it has been really amazing how quickly God has integrated us into our new community through our new church home, Otaki Good News Centre. it feels like we've been here much longer than two months when i think about how long it has taken in the past to really feel at home in a new city. God is doing some pretty amazing things here in Otaki! We've met several people who have amazing testimonies of God's grace and redemption and i hope to be able to share them with you in the future. a couple of weeks ago pastor mike asked me to lead the music ministry! i feel really honoured and humbled for this opportunity. we went to a Worship Clinic in Wellington this Saturday with Wayne and Libby Huirua! it was a great time of worship, encouragement and teaching!

One of the things Wayne talked about was not grieving the Holy Spirit or not living in such a way that makes you an unsafe place for the Holy Spirit to dwell. When Jesus was baptised the Bible tells us the the heavens opened (were actually torn open) and the Holy Spirit ascended (flooded into the earth) and landed on Jesus's shoulder in the form of a dove. Until Jesus, there hadn't been a safe place (person) for the Holy Spirit to dwell with. Before Jesus died he told his disciples that he was sending the Holy Spirit back to dwell with them, and after he died and rose again the Holy Spirit ascended on the disciples in the form of tongues of fire.

Are we living a life that makes us a safe place for the Holy Spirit to come and dwell? Are we living a life that invites the Holy Spirit in or pushes him away by the ungodly spirits we entertain by what we watch, think, say and do?

Good stuff!

His Promises Endure Forever!

There was a rainbow a couple of weeks ago on our way to get our new car in Upper Hutt which is near Wellington. I've seen a few lately and they totally blow my mind! They are beautiful, complex, full of color and light...God is so awesome to give us such a tender reminder that he will never destroy mankind again like he did in the flood. At one point we could see it from on end to the other and it seemed to move with us, so my suspicion is, if there is a pot of gold at the end, it's either invisible or you will never be able to catch the rainbow to find out! :)

Never Forget

Church was really great today! Pastor Paul spoke on "Significant Seasons" and how to recognize God in the changing seasons of our lives. Before he started preaching he asked the church and his wife to pray for America as we remember the devastation and continued threat of 9/11.  As Americans, we all know how 9/11 affected us but I don't think we realize how 9/11 affected the rest of the world.  The pastor spoke about how New Zealand was never the same after 9/11. The repercussions of that day were world wide. Although the devastation happened in America, we were not the only country grieving and not the only ones wrestling with fear. It was very eye opening to hear these words come from a man I would've at that moment considered a stranger to me personally but also a stranger to my country.

The past few days have been pretty quiet. Torre had his first day at the clinic on Thursday and saw his first patients there on Friday. He said it was really great and that it was nice to work with children again. :) I was invited to tea at a new friends house on Friday and that was really nice. Everyone is very friendly here and those who know what it is like to be away from home and new in town are going out of their way to make us feel welcome. This weekend turned out to be a rainy one. The weather has been mostly sunny and beautiful since we arrived so we don't mind the rain so much. Sunsets are so beautiful here! They remind me of home. Today we visited Levin City Church and went to a BBQ for the Clinic. It was kind of a "going away" for a doctor from Canada who's heading back home in a couple of weeks and a "welcome" for Torre. They served barbecued beef, lamb, Chinese honey sausage, a variety of salads, breads and desserts.

Here are a few new pics to keep you coming back!

Downtown Wellington along the harbor walk way

This was the sun setting on our way home from Wellington!
My camera was hanging out the car window as we were going about 100kl/phr down the express way.

The "Prowler".  I want one! :)

God is SO AMAZING!

Wellington

This week Torre had orientation with the NZ Locums agency in Wellington so we had the opportunity to drive south and see more of the island. Wellington is a small city on the southern coast of the North Island and feels about the size of Boston. It's a lot cooler here than in Levin and doesn't have the “small town” feel that Boston does but the views of the homes on the coast looks like what I would imagine the homes on the Greek Islands to look like. Downtown Wellington is packed with high rise offices and apartment building, a cafe on every corner and lots and lots of shopping. Turkish, Sushi and Sandwich shops are the favorites here and the Kiwis love their espresso!

A few Wellington highlights:

One night while strolling down Cuba Street we found Wasabi Sushi. It is a generally normal Sushi restaurant, except we'd never seen service provided with such a spin! The restaurant is pretty long and narrow and has a long, lean oval shaped table in the center of the room that seats about 25 people. Rolling around the top of the table is a conveyor belt filled with all different colored plates of sushi! All you do it sit down and start shopping to your hearts content! At the end of the meal the server comes over, sees how many of which colored plates you have, rings you up and you are out the door. We'll be back. :)

For those of you who have never experience the Magnum Ice Cream bar, I'm sad to say that you've been missing out. From what I can tell they've been available in other countries for years but just started making themselves known in the states recently. Get one! I know you'll love it. :) They have a promotion going right now....1 in 6 people win a FREE Magnum! We got a Honey Suckle Vanilla Magnum the other night our way back to the hotel and wouldn't you know it WE WON!!! I rarely win anything so this was a lovely surprise! Pictured is our prize. :)

Yesterday Torre finished his meetings at 2pm so we went to the Te Papa Museum on the harbor. It's a big beautiful museum that's free to the public. Torre was extremely excited to find that it's the only museum in the world to have on display a Colossal Squid! He had actually watched the documentary on this exact squid not that long ago. It was captured live on a fishing vessel, frozen to be preserved and then slowly thawed so scientist could study it until it began to break down and had to be preserved for display in the museum. A Colossal Squid's eye is the size of a soccer ball, it's tentacles have hooks on them and spin in circles and it has this giant bird like beak that it uses to grab and eat it's prey. Gross.