Welcome to our (Andrew and Dawn's) blog about missions and preparing for the mission field. For those who do not yet know, God has put upon our hearts the country and people of New Zealand. We are still prayerfully considering where in New Zealand He would want us to serve and that is a part of what this blog is about. Over the weeks, months, and years we hope to use this space as a way of communicating how God is moving in our lives. Now, on to a few basic questions.
First, where is New Zealand? New Zealand is a small island nation just west of Australia. There are two main islands (cleverly known as the North and South Islands) and then a few smaller, less know islands that make up this country. New Zealand is a part of the British Commonwealth but still operates is own government under the auspices of the British monarchy.
Second, why New Zealand? Oddly enough, we had thought about moving to New Zealand about 4 or 5 years ago for totally different reasons than missions. We knew it wasn't for the right reasons so we dismissed the idea. As time when on, both of us would have thoughts, dreams, and ideas about New Zealand but neither of us would say anything right away. Eventually one of us would bring up the idea and the other would be totally shocked as their thoughts and mind were thinking about New Zealand as well.
In 2012, Dawn was able to hear from a family at church who was going to New Zealand to be apart of Calvary Chapel Bible Institute. The next day she sent a text to me (Andrew) saying 'Lets go to New Zealand'. My first reaction was 'For what reason'. We spoke a bit about the family she had seen and we resolved to pray about it more. Through times of prayer and asking for God to show Himself in these plans, we both concluded that God wants us in New Zealand.
From that time, God has been working on us that everything needs to be in His timing and His way, not our own. We were thinking about moving, getting jobs, and gathering information on the process to stay in New Zealand. (New Zealand is fairly strict in who they allow to stay for longer than 3 months, they are even stricter on who can become a citizen.) But God had different plans. Slowly we have realized that God wants us to go as missionaries, serve the leadership that is already there, and to trust in God's provisions. We won't have "normal" jobs but will seek to stay in New Zealand's under their Religious Visa.
Now for a fun question we get all the time, have you seen Lord of the Rings? Yes, we have seen all three movies and no, that is not the reason we are going to New Zealand.
Well, I think that will wrap things up for this posting. We will write more as God leads and we look forward to talking more about New Zealand and how God is moving in our lives in preparation for this adventure. We have listed some prayer requests on the right hand side of the blog and will continue to update those as well.
Until the next blog entry, may you find the peace and love of God overwhelming in your life.
Andrew
