Hi all!! August was a crazy good month. We celebrated our seventh anniversary, Dawn had a birthday, and school started!
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| Taken on our anniversary |
Most of the interns arrived on August 19th. Cami, Andrew, and myself got to host three
guys as they acclimated back to New Zealand’s time schedule and season.
Students started arriving on the 23rd and most of
them had arrived by the 25th.
We are waiting for one more student to arrive, so pray with us that God
will help take care of what needs to be taken care of.
Orientation weekend went really well. Students were a little shell shocked but
enjoyed the abundant baked goods that Tecla and Cami dished up for the breaks
and welcoming atmosphere.
Registration is now complete and we have 25 students
enrolled in classes and sinking their teeth into the goodness of the Word.
The weather is starting to warm up which is so wonderful
since we left Denver in April and winter had not finished its snowy
craziness. We arrived at the tail end of
Fall only to go into a damp and chilly winter.
Glad to say that we didn’t have to shovel snow during our winter
here. Pastor Ed would probably like
these winters in Rotorua with the exception of a few days of iced windows.
At the tail end of July and beginning of August I saw so
many beautiful rainbows. It was
fantastic to be reminded of God’s promises ... and often. He is a good good Father!
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| Outside our front door |
Now we are enjoying colorful sunsets. It truly is a land of beauty. I forget that we live out in the
country. Just now as I am writing this,
Shadow, the resident donkey, is braying at the other end of the campus. She is probably asking for a carrot to enjoy.
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| Outside our back door |
A new term we have learned.. Tea means dinner. If someone asks you over for tea, they are saying that would like to have you over for dinner. Super cool to be able to learn more and more!
Today Andrew is teaching his first session of the Gospel of
Mark. I am so very proud of him and all
of the steps of faith he is taking. This
winter he led worship multiple times at Shoreline while playing the bass guitar
and Gordon accompanying him on the electric guitar. The Lord is stretching and growing Andrew and
it has been a privilege to watch.
We are completing our first week of classes tomorrow and I
must say, I am excited to see what this semester is going to bring. We have four outreaches planned for the
students: 1) Wellington CC to help with their VBS, 2) Fiji – to help with their
disaster recovery from Cyclone Winston, 3) Lakes Ranch Youth Camp, and 4)
Raglan, NZ – to help with their youth camp.
There are a lot of great things going on and I can wait to share with
you what God is doing here.
Please keep us in your prayers! There are a lot of moving parts and so I hope
to be able to share with you at least once a month.. if not more. Here are some of our prayer requests:
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Wisdom, provision, and safety for the outreach
teams
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Health and healing for both of us (Andrew’s foot
and my back)
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Guidance for the decisions that we have to make
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Continued growth and connection with the
students, interns, and staff
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Our visa renewal will be coming up in January or
February. Pray for God’s perfect will.
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Discernment for the situations we encounter
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Keeping our eyes fixed on the Author of our
faith
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| A great quote on a wall in alley in Napier |
We love and appreciate you!
Having your support has been a blessing in many ways. Your kind words have been encouraging and we
love to hear from you! May God richly
bless you as you continue to seek His face.
Dawn and Andrew
If the Lord leads you to support us, please click on this link to our support page with Shepherd's Staff.
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Romans 12:10-13
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