Mt. Tongariro Erupts, 06.08.12

Mount Tongariro erupted for the first time in over a century on Monday night, 6th of August, 2012. We live approx. 245km (3 hours) South of National Park where Mount Tongariro is. The eruption consisted of mostly rock and ash. There have been more small earthquakes in the region lately but the news said that Volcanologists didn't expect the eruption and they are looking into any other potential eruptions.

We are not being affected by the eruption. The ash cloud is blowing east toward the Pacific and the news report this morning said that it should be gone by evening. No news as to what other kinds of activity should be expected.

Per mom's wisdom and encouragement, I am going to prepare a few items in case of an emergency evacuation. :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19159625

"Be still and know that I am God."

Good morning All! Today is a beautiful, clear, crisp winter morning. The mountains have a fresh layer of snow on them, the sunrise was brilliant and I have a fresh anticipation for what God is up to! (There are also brand new baby sheep in the fields! One mama had twin black lambs!!!!!!!!!!) As of today Torre has only 6 weeks left of work and we depart New Zealand in exactly 47 days. *sigh* Wow...almost a whole year down to this absolutely EXCELLENT Adventure! I'm full of all kinds of emotions as I think about where we were a year ago, how God was preparing to bring us here, all that he's done in and through us over the past ten months...we serve a HUGE God. Don't forget it! Once again we are in kinda of a holding pattern as we search out Torre's next job, how God will continue to use us at home and on the mission field, and where we'll be moving to come our return to the states, but for us we are finding it's also a place or season that is really testing our faith and challenging our perception on our future. I feel like we've been down this road a couple of times and although we have definitely grown and can recognize some of our "flesh" in advance, God always has something new for us to learn. After climbing the hills of "what if" and "what will people think" and "but that's too far" and "how will that work" and "will that be enough" all over again, Torre and I have thankfully fallen back into God's grace that allows us to throw up our hands in surrender and say, sincerely, "Whatever, Wherever, However, God!". I hate how easily we fall back into the control freak trap, but I am so thankful to my God who patiently waits for me to get back in line and resolve myself to follow his lead. I love how Lisa Bevere puts it, "Our Lion will not lead us on a path he himself has not already paced." Life is not absent of trouble, challenge or fear, but I must hold tight to the truth and personal experience I have with my Father God who holds the universe in the palm of his hands.

So as far as we know right now, it looks like we will be living/working in California come October but we do not know where or for how long yet. We really want to be in Cali. for the holidays so we can spend as much  time as possible with our family. :)

Torre had an amazing time on the Missions trip to the DR and I really enjoyed my time visiting my family in Cali! All of our DR Family is doing really well and besides some set backs this year through customs they were able to serve approximately 400 people at the medical clinic! I absolutely love how God continues to grow our partnership and build up our relationships in the DR and really look forward to heading back next time!

Our Mission trip to Tonga is coming up as well...September 24-October 1!!! We are taking a team from Otaki and some of the surrounding churches to Tonga to serve the students and families of ACTS Community School! This will be the first Mission trip the church here in Otaki has ever organized so keep us all in your prayers for provision, direction and God's Spirit to go before us and prepare the way. Our goal is to make this an annual trip to Tonga so we can continue to build relationships and further the Kingdom of God through His love!

I need to get my day officially going now. Be blessed!

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans for a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Autumn in Kiwi Land & Beyond!

Although I think I prefer the term "Fall" for the Autumn seasons, whenever I've referred to Autumn as "Fall" here I get a funny look and a, "you mean Autumn?". March, April and May are the FALL months here in New Zealand and it's been quite beautiful. The sun is still very warm, the air has cooled off quite a bit and now that June is just two days away you can tell Winter has arrived...particularly because of the beautiful snow capped Tararua Mountain Range!

This is the view just up the street and around the corner from our house.

Click here to read more about Otaki.

*enter June*

I'm back! Blogging seems to have become something that I do in my "spare" time and for whatever reasons the new year hasn't provided much blogging opportunity. I'm determined to finish out our year here in New Zealand with a complete blog!

It's now June 18th in NZ, Father's Day back home - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADS!, and it's freezing. The Tararua Mountains have a this fresh layer of snow on them from the weekend storm and that means IT'S COLD! Living on the coast definitely has it's perks during the warm seasons but it's a bit cooler than you'd expect during the winter. It's still a blessing to hear the surf at high tide and to know that it's majestic view is around the corner, but in exchange for those things I think this house may need some insulation upgrades!

I was in charge of Lunch and made soup for 200 people!

April 28th we hosted the first Annual Otaki Health Screening Day at our church! It was a great day! We had just over 100 people come through the doors, approximately 45 community and church volunteers and 12 medical/nutritional vendors. Torre did an amazing job over overseeing the organization of the event and a big thanks to all the volunteers who helped it run so smoothly! It was a great outreach opportunity for our community and we've already seen some of the fruit by new faces at church!

The weekend of May 11th, Torre, Mike and I traveled to the Kingdom of Tonga as a Missions Vision trip and to spend the weekend with our friends Pastor Mateala and Lavender who pastor EQUIPPERS Church Tonga. We were able to see first hand their heart for their community. Almost three years ago they started Acts Community School and it has continued to flourish into an amazing source of education, love and hope to the community. 

September 24 through October 1, 2012, a team from our church in Otaki, the HUB church, will be traveling to Tonga for our first ever Medical Mission to Tonga!!! We will spend the week working with Acts Community School and the families of the students providing medical care, prayer and any other kind of support we can during our time there. Please keep our team in your prayers as we prepare for this Mission and continue to pray for Tonga and the Equippers Church and school.

Acts Community School, Tonga

Mike doing the Friday School Assembly

Equippers Church Tonga

Surprising "Winter" surprises! The flowers below started growing in our front yard just a couple of weeks ago! We also have a small bunch of Daffies growing in the back yard AND I saw a pair of black swans today with a baby. Geesh! My mind is telling me it's Summer, my freezing body is telling me it's Winter, and my eyes are telling me it's Spring! So confused!!!

Fun with friends! Mike, Torre and the kids

playing with a beetle in the living room. :)

We went camping a couple of weekends ago at the Waikawa Stream Reserve, Manakau. It's a great local spot close enough to home for a shower!

"Location: 4km up Manakau North Road - This Department of Conservation managed ‘basic’ campsite features 15 tent sites and is surrounded by diverse vegetation – watch for fantails, tui, bellbird, whitehead, riflemen and kakariki. There are short walks, day trips and tramps available in Tararua Forest Park. There’s also an historic stone shelter building surrounded by plenty of shade trees. There are no fees for camping here."

We also spent some time at Queen Elizabeth Park! Such a beautiful spot!

"A slice of the sunny Kapiti Coast, Queen Elizabeth Park is ideal for swimming, fishing, walking, horseriding, picnics and group events. Bounded by Paekakariki, Raumati South and State Highway One, Queen Elizabeth Park imparts a rare feeling of remoteness within the dunes, remnant forest and regenerating wetlands. Explore the wetlands and bush remnant or take a historic tram ride to Whareroa Beach."

Memorial Point facing the Mountain Range

Kapiti Island from Memorial Point platform


S'MORES TIME!

Our new camping stove! Hot Chocolate & S'mores. :D

S'mores NZ style! White and pink marshmallows with Choco Krispies!
They are thin, crispy coconut cookies with a layer of chocolate already on them!

Perfect. Sunset on the Tasman Sea from Memorial Point.

Otaki Ministry Update

Where to begin! God is so amazing. I think that sums it up. :)

Along with all the fun and exploration we've been so blessed by since our time in New Zealand, the icing on the cake is really being a family member of our church community, "the HUB church". On Sunday, March 25, we launched our new name at our Harvest Fest outreach!

The new sign I designed :)
"the HUB church, Jesus in the Community"

As you know, we started our men's and ladies bible studies in February and they've been going really great! It's honestly been better than we even hoped for! We more than doubled in Tuesday night attendance and God has been working in each of our hearts, minds and spirits in such an exciting way. NO GOING BACK! This round of studies wraps up in two weeks and then we will move into a new series of studies that are yet to be decided on. I really need to get Torre to blog about his experiences at work and the church!!! The men's bible study has been going really amazing so I want to get him on here to tell you about it. 

A little help perhaps? Maybe just one email, each day, from each of you would get the point across. :) 

Check out the study material for your church or home group:

For the Ladies:

"So Long Insecurity, you've been a bad friend to us" by Beth Moore

For the Men:

"Honor Begins at Home", by Michael Catt, Stephen Kendrick, and Alex Kendrick

(From the creators of "Fireproof" and "Courageous")

*It just stared raining. :)

Last month we hosted a Harvest Fest outreach for the community. Although it wasn't what I had hoped for in numbers, it was a really great time of connecting and family fun! We had a beautiful shared lunch, a bouncy castle, face painting, games for the children and a really gorgeous pumpkin patch photo booth that my friend, Karen, painted!

March 28 to April 1, we had Pastor Pat Sparrow and his ministry team visiting from Shouts of Grace Church in Grover Beach, CA! Mike went to Ministry School with John, Pat's son, in Auckland, NZ. John, their Youth Pastor, and their Children's Pastor, Josiah, stayed with me and Torre and Pat and his Men's Ministry leader, Wayne, stayed with Mike and Helen. Pat has a powerful Prophetic ministry so it was an incredibly encouraging and uplifting to hear what God had given him to share with each of us. 

The following week was a whirl wind of events! Mike and Helen went away for three days with their youngest, Jacob, to a Leadership Summit in Lake Taupo, and I had their two oldest, Amber, 9, and Zac, 6! They got back on Wednesday night and then left about an hour and a half later to Wellington to catch their flight up to Auckland for SHOUT over the weekend. About two hours after they returned Torre and I left for Wellington as well to be there for our 6 AM flight to Sydney for Easter weekend. We had planned on driving to Wellington in the morning but our car has been a bit questionable lately so we had a friend drive us to the train station so we could take the train to Welli. 

We went to Sydney to visit our dear friends Anna, Andre and Elle for Easter! Anna is from Sydney but we actually met them in Boston at REUNION. They were in our community group in the Back Bay and ended up moving back to Sydney about a week after we arrived in NZ, so we were very eager to head North for a visit! Needless to say, the trip was tons of fun and Sydney is really beautiful! The weather was perfect...thanks God!...and Elle is growing so much. More on Sydney to come with the pics. :)

Easter Sunday @ Hillsong Australia!

Saturday, April 28, we will have our first Annual Otaki Health Screening Day organized and hosted by the HUB church! Torre and Mike had the idea to offer a health awareness day for the community and have been busy bringing it all together. (Mike worked as a Head Nurse before he became a Pastor).  God is definitely at work here because he has brought all kinds of Physicians and people in the medical field to volunteer, not just from Otaki, but from several surrounding cities/regions!!! Torre is blown away by the response! One of the medical screening trucks that travels all around is scheduled to be in Otaki the following Monday and they "just happened" to be arriving the night before our Health Day and have agreed to bring the truck and do screening for free! Praise God!

Please add this outreach to your prayer list and ask God to use it in a mighty way to show the families of Otaki that there is a God that cares for them and that he has brought people to Otaki to love them, encourage them, lend a helping hand, and to show them that Jesus is the only way, the only truth and our only hope.

Prayer Requests:

• There is great physical/natural need in the community of Otaki and there is currently very little work available here. Over 300 families signed up for welfare just in the last two months and the manager at the food bank said that it is the highest she's ever seen it. Please pray for God's favor over the town of Otaki. That as God brings revival and redemption to the hearts of Otaki, that we would also begin to see a renewal of resources, land, economy, etc. 
• Please pray for miraculous funding to continue to flood into the church community so we are better able and equip to help provide for the physical and spiritual needs of our local community.
• the HUB church has begun to raise funds for a new extension to be built next to our existing building. There is a very old house currently next door, the Tasman house, and it is rotten, full of wood warms and about to fall down. The leadership team has decided that although we don't yet see the financial provisions for this project that it is time, through faith, to pursue a new building that will not only provide a safer environment for ministry but the additional space needed to continue to grow and reach out into our community. Our "Buy a Brick" Campaign is in full swing! Please pray about partnering with us on this journey and investing into not just a building but a community.
  
  

• Please pray that God will continue to bring mature Christ followers into the HUB church. We are very much in need of more Leadership/Ministry workers and those who have a heart and passion to serve God through serving his church.
• We can see a Single Parents Ministry developing at the HUB church! This is very exciting! Please pray for the women and men who have found themselves to be the mom, dad and solo provider for their families. I can't imagine how draining it must be to be in that position so we would like to do everything we can to bring emotional, physical and spiritual support to the parents/families here Otaki. Please pray over the children who are struggling as well. Do you have a passion to help single parents? Please pray about a monthly sponsorship for one or more of the single parents we are currently ministering to at the HUB church.

There is plenty more where that came from, so please continue to pray ultimately for God's will to be done, for His love to shine out of our lives to our community, for salvation, discipleship and Jesus to be the center of it all!

Mosaic of a Decade

In six days I will be 30! I'm honestly feeling pretty excited about it! I've been thinking about my 20's lately and I am over whelmed by how much I've been blessed in ten years. Twenty feels like a lifetime ago...seriously. When I think about who I was at twenty and who I am now I'm amazed at how God works in our lives and grows us up, day by day...year by year.

Since twenty, I've moved five times (Scottsdale, AZ; Weare, NH; Boston, MA; Whittier, CA & Otaki, New Zealand); experienced great relational loss and restoration and in the process learned to trust God and be obedient in a way that continues to bring freedom to my life; I'm sorry to those I've hurt out of my insecurity or just plain immaturity and to those I couldn't love like you or I would've like to; I married the man of my dreams at 24 and it's been almost six amazing years already! I love you babe...it's been the most "excellent adventure" of my life!; I have a family that loves, supports, encourages and values me and I couldn't begin to express how blessed I am because of it. Thanks to my parents for their love and for continually pointing me toward God. To my sisters, "Slaw", "Honey", "Coco" and "Mouse", this one's for you, "Sisters, Sisters, never where there such devoted sisters...". Love you all so much!; I've had loved ones pass away; saw many babies of friends and family come into the world including my first nephew, Gideon!; celebrated weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, new jobs, challenging and positive life changes, healing and growth with those dearest to my heart; I've had challenging jobs and amazing ones! A "big and chunky" shout out to Peg and the ladies at "Peggy Anne's Quilting & Sewing Company"!!! I love and miss you all! Thanks for the good times, our hilarious travel adventures, for all the love, encouragement and prayer you've given over the years, and of course the COFFEE! *hugs*; I've been apart of church communities who know and understand what it means to love and serve God and each other unconditionally; I've learned that I can't, nor should I try (as much as I'd like to) to make everyone happy; I've been insecure, foolish, fearful, prideful, hopeful, honest, dishonest (mostly to myself), humble, anxious, stupid, embarrassing, joyful, overwhelmed, in awe, peaceful, amazed, crazy, courageous, loving, helpful, adventurous, hurt, healed, lost, found, broken, restored and everything in between!; I've experienced the love of God through so many amazing people over the years and I feel extremely honored and humbled to have the continued privileged of knowing each and every one of you; I saw God bring a miraculous healing to my Mom and continue to see him bringing her complete restoration and strength! THANK YOU JESUS!; I've seen God take me from a very insecure, fearful, not sure of her own self-value girl to a woman who believes she is fearfully and wonderfully made and strives every day to stand firm on Christ Jesus as her security, strength and dignity, because I am who God says I am and I have been called and given the right and authority of my God to go and do and be and LIVE all that He is calling me to!; I've traveled to Romania, London, Paris, Rome, Germany, Mexico, Hawaii, Canada, Dominican Republic and New Zealand! God has given me and my husband a passion for Missions (July 2012 will be our third year traveling to the Dominican Republic) and we are excited to continue to align our lives with His calling so we will continue to be available to go wherever He leads us!; I've learned what it is to have neighbors...ones that you actually like and have relationship with! :) We've been so blessed by Danika and Jr., our Weare, NH, neighbors, Nikki and Mavi, our Boston, MA, neighbors, and now Brian, Cathrine, and Sam, our Otaki, NZ, neighbors.; I've been white water rafting, experienced sunset on the Tasman Sea, became a certified scuba diver, been overwhelmed by God's creative design of nature and the complexity of humanity, had many regrets but have learned that we can't let our mistakes or even the things we haven't done dictate our future. 

The choice to LIVE is ours...all we have to do is make it! I had the opportunity to be apart of a Ladies Leadership Training group about three years ago and it impacted my life significantly. I realized through prayer and allot of self reflection that I had become so caught up in being who I thought people expected me to be and living just not to make any mistakes or upset anybody and that I was just striving not to fail...and that is no way to live. Over the years God has continued to teach me how to become true to him by being true to me and to decide everyday that I will choose to LIVE with the time I've been given and not just "get by".

I'm so overwhelmed by God's faithfulness and ENORMOUS love for me that I'm in tears just as I reflects on it all. I've had an extremely amazing and blessed 29 years...It hasn't been without hardship, heartache or trial, but I've come to realize that life without hardship, heartache or trial wouldn't be very interesting. Every hardship has pushed me closer to my God, every heartache has demanded that I re-evaluate how I am loving people and how and why I am seeking to be loved, every trial has brought correction and a new capacity to my character. I guess I would say I'm learning to stumble with grace and realize that even though my tiara is on crooked that I am still a site to behold in the eyes of my Father God!

30 here I come! I hope it's ready for me! I am! :)

insert foot through toilet seat here

so last night while using the cast iron grill pan to make lamb chops on the stove the house was getting quite smokey so we opened the windows and doors to air it out. this is a daring thing to do during the evening because the mosquitoes here are 3x the size of the ones at home and LOVE to be inside. as i was going around closing the windows after dinner i went into the toilet room (many houses in NZ have the toilet in a separate room from the shower and sink) and found 4 HUGE mosquitoes! these were even bigger than the ones i've been finding around the garden. i quickly closed the door ON Torre not realizing that he was following behind me so close and began the attack on the blood thirsty vipers! (we get tired of waking up with bites in case it wasn't obvious!) one...two...three down... the fourth was too high for me to reach so i took a quick second to consider whether or not i should stand on the toilet seat since it did seem a bit weak...i should've taking a few more quick seconds...because as i placed my right foot on the seat and boosted myself up i didn't even make it half way before my foot went right through the seat breaking it into several pieces. :< this isn't funny! i could've done some serious damage to my foot and i think i almost broke my big toe but thanks be to God i did not! torre ended up killing the fourth mosquito for me since i couldn't stop laughing. the only injury i did acquire was on my left calf. it seems a piece of the toilet seat hit it, scratched it and bruised it since it started swelling shortly after the incident. i put ice on it so the swelling didn't get bad but it is pretty sore.

Adventures Away! hehe.. (although not what i was expecting!)

and they're off!

February marks the last official month of summer here in NZ and the kids have already gone back to school. During January we went to one Sunday service and no Tuesday nights gathering but as of yesterday we are officially back to two Sunday services and our new Tuesday night bible studies starting tomorrow!

Yesterday we had an awesome 2012 Launch Party at the church! There was a free BBQ, bouncy castle, face painting and nail painting open to the community as well as a "massve" (as P. Mike would say) time of Praise & worship and a "full on" message from Pastor Mike about getting God's perspective! We had a full band including youth from Levin, team members from Lower Hutt Equippers and of course our team at OGNC. It was so much fun and God's spirit was there and actively moving in peoples hearts. Thanks so EVERYONE who helped make it all possible!

Friday and Saturday we had the Regional Leaders Retreat in Paraparaumu at a local Christian Camp. It was a really great time of getting to know the other leaders from our regions churches and to receive words of encouragement, building up and insight given by P. Sam, P. Jordan, P. Mike, P. Boon and P. Willie.

Sunday also marked the beginning of our Month of Prayer & Fasting. Over the next three weeks we will be fasting and praying for Nations, our Region and our City. Join us and get updates on our facebook page! We are expecting BIG things from God for 2012 and for future generations! We believe it's a year of inheritance for God's people and our prayer is that we would all be bold in our faith and not shy away from the land God has called us to poses!