Johnsons' Journal

Far our Man... I'm with Yah...

2012-01-20T22:57:00.000+13:00

Year's End Relief

2011-11-22T20:29:00.000+13:00

I couldn’t resist the above photo, springtime fun at Laidlaw College! Henry and Eva are both thriving. Eva is into everything, walking, talking, pulling drawers apart and chewing anything that looks edible. (It was blue-tack last week.) Henry sometimes gets frustrated with his sister who not only has taken some of the lime out of his light, but also insists on following her brother everywhere and doing everything that he is doing. Suffice to say that as parents we are beginning to value separate space and individual activities for both children! They are both still attending Olive Shoots childcare, Henry three days a week and Eva just one morning at this stage.

Helen and I can breathe a huge sigh of relief with Simon’s degree now done and dusted. It has been a bit of a slog this semester with the continued juggle of family, work, church and study. But we have made it! And thankfully as final grades are rolling in, they seem to be having a nice vowel-like tone. For now the study is over, or to put it rather more bluntly and in Helen’s words; “you’re not allowed to do any more study until our kids leave home.”

So what does 2012 hold? First and foremost the search is on for employment and there are some positive signs. Simon has been employed part time as a grounds keeper at Laidlaw this year and it looks as if the role is going to morph into a full-time position. He has an interview later this week. Simon also has a couple of other options open to him, but for now the Laidlaw position is preferred. Helen has also been looking at teaching positions, mostly part-time and if nothing comes of these will seek employment as a reliever in 2012.

Many people have been asking us, ‘So when are you off to Taiwan?’ The short answer is; ‘We’ll get there when we have enough support.’ As per our last update we are still booked into the Initial Orientation Course with OMF in Singapore in July, but this is dependent on funding. So as well as working to put bread on the table and continuing on with our church involvement at St. Michael’s in Henderson next year, we will be focussing on raising this support. That essentially means a lot of networking, relationship development and travelling around speaking to different groups and churches. If your church would welcome a mission speaker then Simon would be happy to oblige. And if you, your family or your church would like to consider supporting us, just let us know and we can send you the appropriate forms to fill in.

Hoping this letter finds you and you loved ones well for Christmas and wishing you all of God’s blessing as we approach the season of Peace. – Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. John 14:27.

Winter Break

2011-07-25T11:34:00.002+12:00

After a busy first semester we felt well in need of a holiday during the semester break. We have just returned from two weeks away at Tinopai on the Kaipara Harbour at Helen’s Aunty Jill’s bach. We had a lovely time. Tinopai is a small harbourside township and so the two weeks were spent walking, fishing, oystering, playing games, eating yummy home-baked food and making occasional trips to visit extended family in the Northland area. One of the highlights for Henry was going to see Cars 2 with his cousin Matai at the movies in Whangarei. One of the highlights for Daddy was seeing Henry catch his first fish, a snapper, off the Tinopai wharf.

On our return home we had a somewhat of an unfortunate accident. Everyone was excited to be home, we were in the middle of tidying up and putting our gear away when we heard a scream from Eva, we turned to see Henry looking frightened, blood streaming from Eva’s hand and also on the bedroom door. Her finger had been crushed in the door by her brother. We rushed to Waitakere Hospital, Simon holding Eva’s finger so as not to lose it, there were X-Rays, a trip to Starship Childrens Hospital, surgery to save the finger and a cast put in place which is to be removed this coming Friday after two weeks. The finger tip was 80% lacerated and just hanging on, the doctors are sure however that she will recover well and have the full use of her finger, for which we are grateful. Ah, family life!

During the break, Helen has enjoyed taking Thursday mornings off for herself. She has enjoyed some retail therapy and a manicure, plus a walk along Piha beach. Simon has enjoyed being a part of Youthserve at our local church in the first week of the school holidays. Youthserve is a Scripture Union initiative where teenagers engage in practical work in the community and also have an opportunity to share their faith. Simon trained the teens in sharing their faith and then took them out on afternoon mission trips to the local mall where they engaged others in conversation around faith with some very encouraging outcomes.

Last weekend the whole family travelled to Te Puru on the Coromandel Peninsula - just North of Thames. Here Simon preached and shared a little of our journey toward mission with OMF. We were very warmly welcomed into this small community and are looking forward to continuing on our relationship with them.

Today is the first day of semester two; so it is back to the books and the routine for all of us after a few weeks of change. This will be our last semester studying; all going well Simon will graduate in December. At this stage we plan to keep living at College next year as we continue to raise support toward our mission goals in Taiwan. We have been booked in to attend the July 2012 International Orientation Course in Singapore after which we will fly to Taiwan to begin language study. This is contingent upon raising the necessary levels of support.

I have uploaded some photos from our recent holiday to Tinopai you can view these photos by clicking on the 'our photos' link to the right.

For those of you who are up to praying for us, please pray for:

· Thanks for good health for all of us over the winter months

· Thanks for a refreshing holiday over the last couple of weeks

· Perseverance into our last semester of study

· Healing of Eva’s finger

· For Henry to learn to be more gentle and caring

· The raising of financial and prayer support

Thankyou once again for your ongoing support,

God Bless,

Simon, Helen, Henry and Evangeline Johnson.

Mid Semester Update...

2011-05-10T19:45:00.000+12:00

Greetings, from the Johnsons. We are well into the first semester now - amid a flurry of essay activity for Simon, attempted crawling and burbling of Mum mum and Dada for Eva, racing around at break neck speed in everything he does for Henry and Helen trying to keep sanity in the home as she balances, study, work and a young family. It is a busy year.

A particular highlight for Simon in the last couple of months has been the instigation of an evangelism team at St. Michael’s were monthly Saturday mornings are spent either knocking on doors or hanging out at the local shopping mall and engaging people in conversation around Jesus and the gospel. The reception has been amazingly open; with 70% of people very happy to sit down and have a conversation in their lounge rooms or as they go about their business in the mall. I wonder whether this kind of receptivity would have been apparent a few years ago? It seems as if there is a wide open door for the gospel currently and so long as one is humble in approach and not overbearing, there is receptivity. I have been going back to people to give them Bibles and praying for people’s needs on the street. It has truly been God-driven.

We spent Easter with Simon’s family in Whakatane where we enjoyed the company of cousins, Aunties and Uncles and participated in eeling, fishing off the wharf, soaking in hot pools, having rides on the tractor, visiting farms and eating sumptuous dinners – not to mention a grand Easter egg hunt and going to church on Easter Sunday. On a not so positive note, amid all of the excitement, Henry managed to come off his bike and spend three hours in A&E getting his head stitched up – he is recovering well now but will most likely have a scar on his forehead to remind him of Easter 2011 for quite some time.

The end of the mid-semester break saw Helen spend an enjoyable time with her father’s side of the family up in Maungaturoto on the farm while Simon headed down to Greymouth to preach up a storm over four services in three days as well as re-connecting with friends and enjoying the World Famous on the West Coast –Cobden Takeaways . We continue to be thankful for Holy Trinity Greymouth and their ongoing financial and relational support.

As mentioned in our correspondence to date, our family has been formally accepted with OMF and hope to return to Taiwan to begin ministry training as early as May next year. This is all dependent on raising the support we need - both prayer and financial. And so it is with much joy that we now invite you partner with us in this endeavour. If you would like a copy of our support brochure just email us and we will send you one, siandhele@gmail.com. In the brochure you will find more details of our probably ministry within Taiwan and ways in which you can support us. We invite you to print out a copy and consider becoming a part of our support team.

I close with words of encouragement from the apostle Paul as he exhorts the Corinthian church to follow in his footsteps and become more effective Disciples of Christ, “Run in such a way as to get the prize... I do not run like somebody running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Cor 9:24-27.

May God continue to bless all of you as you hunker down for the winter months. (Southern Hemispherites)

Bye for now,

Simon, Helen, Henry and Eva.

It has Started...

2011-03-09T22:14:00.000+13:00

I must admit it has seemed like a very long Summer - beginning on November 20 and finally coming to an end the Monday just gone. The well stocked shelves of the Laidlaw College Library, the sleek smooth study desks reminiscent of well ordered thoughts and the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting up from the downstairs cafe are all a welcome relief after attempting to keep up with an energetic three year old and trying to appease an increasingly vocal 6 month old throughout the Summer daze... let study roll on like a river, peace like a never failing stream!

So the year has begun. I am taking a full study load this semester covering 8th Century Prophets, 1st Corinthians, Epistemology and an Internship paper at St. Michael's Henderson where I am leading a local evangelism group, assisting with the young families ministry and also co-leading leading a home-group.
Helen is also studying part time. She is taking Spirituality and also 1st Corinthians this semester. At this stage we plan to sit together.

Both of the children are doing well. Henry is continuing to enjoy Olive Shoots his thrice weekly childcare centre where he is in the 'Sea Horse' or middle room and eagerly awaiting being a Big Boy who can move up to the 'Star Fish' room. We get a commentary most meal times about how much bigger he is going to be after he has finished eating! Eva is sitting up on her own now, enjoying discovering foods of preference and can also often be heard crying across the Laidlaw College fields, much to the dismay of our neighbours, especially around bed time!

We continue to be actively involved with OMF and looking toward active service in Taiwan some time during 2012. Simon has had numerous speaking engagements to this end already this year and will continue to do so throughout the year - an anticipated journey down to Greymouth on April 30th is set to be a highlight of the first half of the year.

Just prior to heading back to our study routine the whole family enjoyed a weekend away camping in the Hunua Forrest Park, part of the Auckland Council's new juristiction and only and hour and a half South East of Waitakere. We all enjoyed walking, swimming in the river, mountain biking and Henry even got to go on his first fishing expedition with Daddy. You can check out our photos by clicking on the 'our photos' link.

For those of you who are up to praying for us, please pray for:

The time management necessary to fit everything into our busy schedules.
Peace and harmony within our home.
Health and safety for our Children.
Continued provision and open doors as we look toward Taiwan.

In these times of uncertainty caused by natural disaster and international civil unrest may we remember the words of Jesus who said; 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.' John 14:6.

Until I write again,

Shalom.

A New Year...

2010-12-29T21:51:00.000+13:00

You may wonder why I have chosen a picture of fish to wish you a happy new year - there are a number of reasons actually. The first and most significant is that I have been studying the book of Luke this year and the passage I studied - Jesus calling the First Disciples or Encouraging Fishing for Men, spoke very strongly to me. I shall share with you my conclusions. In Luke 5:1-1 we are reminded from verse 1 that to be a disciple of Christ we must bathe ourselves in the Word of God, something that I am learning to do more and more. We are also reminded from verse 5 that we are to be obedient to Christ, no matter how silly it may seem. In the passage a carpenter presumes to instruct a professional fisherman how to do his job. The result of the fisherman's obedience in this story is a plentiful catch. Thirdly from verse 8, we are to come to the Lord in humility, Go away from me Lord - I am a sinful man. I have been learning much about humility this year being in a new place with new and highly qualified people. And finally, from verse 10 and 11, we are to have an outward focus on mission, being prepared to leave everything and follow Jesus for the sake of the Gospel - for the sake of Fishing for Men.

So that's the first reason for the fish. Secondly the fish, whose photo was taken by myself in an outdoor night market in Brunei, mark well a transition for myself having spent three weeks on a short term mission trip with OMF in Thailand throughout December. I led a team of four, three recent graduates and a high school leaver in three locations, two provincial cities and a rural township where we observed and participated in contextual church planting and assisting with Christmas programs, mostly in schools. We did dramas, singing and shared testimonies. It was heart warming to see the growth in the team members and for myself gave me a good experience of leading a team overseas. I was also challenged to think more clearly about prospective roles for Helen and myself as we consider building a future on the overseas mission field ourselves. The stopover in Brunei marked the end of my mission trip and signaled the beginning of the Christmas holiday season for myself. While not actually eating fish myself, the night market was my last overseas meal before home.

Upon returning from Thailand, Helen, the children and I all headed up to Paparoa for a family Christmas on Helen's brother's farm. Suffice to say I was a little jet lagged, but it was an enjoyable time. We have now just spent a few days of down time together in Auckland and will spend the New Year period with my family in Tauranga.

The third reason I chose the fish as a image for this musing was in order to say that it has been a bountiful year for ourselves. We have been blessed with a beautiful, happy and healthy Baby daughter - Eva. Henry continues to go from strength to strength participating well at Olive Shoots childcare on campus - where he was a sheep in the end of year Christmas pantomime and also making the transition to play centre up to two mornings weekly. We will send him to Olive shoots three full days starting mid January. He continues to speak extremely well for his age and is keen on engaging in conversation - his latest trick is to reply when you are talking to him or any one else for that matter - Yes I Know - rather matter of factly! Another area of great bounty this year was Simon's study where all of his grades reflected the first letter of the super city in which we now live. Having been a somewhat average student the first time he engaged in tertiary study this is greatly satisfying - and a lot of hard work! Helen has really enjoyed being a mother to our beautiful baby daughter this year - she especially enjoys clothing her in beautiful dresses. She has also managed to complete three audit papers at Laidlaw this year and will continue on with four more in 2011.

As we look toward 2011 we begin to consider transitions again. It is our intention to move ahead with OMF in the New Year and continue the process toward becoming full time mission partners by 2012. This will mean speaking and relational engagements in various locations throughout the year as we build our support base. We are currently at the appointee stage, which means we now need to raise prayer support and financial support. If that all works out we will be getting on a plane - hopefully some time in 2012. Until then Simon will continue on studying in 2011and should complete his degree by years end.

We hope and pray this update finds you all well. Feel free to contact us at any time and if you would rather not continue to receive our updates please let us know.

God Bless and have a Happy and Safe New Year,

Love Simon, Helen, Henry and Evangeline Johnson.

Thap Than

2010-12-12T23:35:00.001+13:00

Second Day in Thap Than today... two and a half hours NE of Suphanburi. We are again staying with a New Zealand Missionary, Lee-Anne Hill. She has been here 18 months and is learning language and involved in English programmes. We went to Church this morning, very small and very intimate. It was quite touching hearing testimony of God's work in people's lives.... former prostitutes.... people living in fear of the Buddhist spirit world. There is a classic missionary couple hear, Bob and Jan - they have been hear for 35 years and are in their final term before retirement. Bob gets about the place with a Banjo, playing gospel songs and preaching. Sounds kind of old school, but it is working, with people coming to Christ and lives being transformed. Tommorrow we will participate in an English programme at a local high school. It will be all day and involve games, dramas, songs and ofcourse teaching English. Check the facebook link to my photos.

Thai Time Apart...

2010-12-09T03:30:00.000+13:00

Well it has been almost a week in Thailand now with a small team from New Zealand. We have come over with OMF, Overseas Missionary Fellowship to serve the local church, engage with locals and participate in evangelistic programmes. After one night in Bangkok, (yes we did actually stay one night - this is not just a throwback to the eighties pop song) we travelled an hour and a half to the North West and a province and city called Suphanburi where we are staying with New Zealand Missionaries Kim and Mary Robertson. The Robertson's are primarily involved in church planting and evangelism and from our short time here they are doing a good job of this. They have 30 or so people involved in the fellowship relatively regulalry, they are dealing with some of the social and emotional needs of the people within their fellowship and are involved with regular evangelism which seems to involve both programs into schools and other such centres as well as a more relational/word of mouth type of drawing people into the Kingdom of God. We have had a busy schedule since we have been here but it is only for a short time. We will leave for another Thai township Uthai Thani, on Saturday. The highlight for myself sofar has been visitng a small group of Chrisitans in a rural village about an hour out of the city. Thatched rooves, raised wooden platforms for sitting on and dirt floors. We sang songs, gave testimony to God's work in our lives and prayed for each other. It was authentic and touching. A very good example of contextualised church I thought.

Taiwanese Spirituality...

2010-10-26T22:06:00.002+13:00

Taiwan's ghost month from PrayForTaiwan on Vimeo.

The Year Draws to a Close...

2010-10-17T14:26:00.000+13:00

It is good to be able to write again.

We are into the final two weeks of semester here at Laidlaw, the year has flown by. Simon now has only two more essays to write and an exam to sit before the summer holiday period. His courses this semester have included The Gospel of Luke, World Religions, Spiritual Formation and an Internship Paper with OMF. This is the paper that will involve a three week mission placement in Thailand in December. Helen has been taking one paper for interest, The Theology of God and Creation.

We have recently returned from a very satisfying trip to Greymouth and the West Coast over the school holiday period. It was wonderful to be able to catch up with many friends, feel refreshed by the breathtaking West Coast scenery and just soak up the more relaxed pace of life. Simon even managed to spend a few hours on the river whitebaiting with a friend. They caught enough for a small taste over dinner that evening. It is with much gratitude that we must again thank our supporters and friends in Greymouth, especially those at Holy Trinity Church who have most generously decided to pay for our College Fees for 2011. Thankyou all very much.

We have had a somewhat distressing time on the health front in the last week. Unfortunately after our time away both of our children were sick - Henry managed to shake off his cold but Eva continued to deteriorate and on Tuesday evening last week was admitted to the Waitakere ED diagnosed with penaumonia and then transferred to the childrens' ward. She received antibiotics by IV for 48hours and was also given oxygen to aid her breathing. Thankfully on Thursday evening she and Helen returned home. She is still taking antibiotics orally with much mucus on her chest. It was quite a stressful time for us all. Please pray for a speedy recovery.

Despite this setback Helen continues to enjoy being a mother and along with coffee group, a weekly music and reading programme at the local library and Henry's existing pre-school programme here at college, she has decided to enroll Henry at playcentre two mornings a week. We both felt he needed some more stimulation and it also helps to provide more of a weekly routine for all of us.

Thanks again for all of your support, prayers and continued communication.

If you are in the habit of praying we would appreciate prayer for:

Eva's Health
Simon's final essays and exam
Helen's strength and joy in mothering
Both of our perseverance with structure and discipline for Henry
And orgnanisation for the December trip to Thailand

When next we write Christmas will be upon us!

Shalom,

The Johnsons.

Super Undie Man!!!

2010-09-14T21:50:00.000+12:00

Evangeline Kahurangi

2010-08-07T20:52:00.003+12:00

We have a beautiful new Baby daughter.

Evangeline Kahurangi Johnson

Evangeline - Good News
Kahurangi - A West Coast National Park and meaning Heavenly Treasure.

For the numerologists amongst you...

Eva born: 07/08/10
Henry Born 07/01/08

Both dates add to 16

1 and 6 = 7

So two 7th Babies and their total sum equals 7.

I think it is cool.

The perfect family, one boy and one girl.

Blessed.

To check out more photos just click on our photos on the right half way down the page.

Holidays and Days Ahead...

2010-06-27T23:52:00.006+12:00

Well hard to believe but true, the first semester is behind us and we have now been up in Auckland at Laidlaw College for four months.

This first term has gone really well for Simon, working hard, learning a lot and getting some good grades. Helen has also been enjoying her time, spending Fridays with her Mum and Henry, mostly at West Wave, the local pool where Henry's swimming ability is slowly progressing. Helen also continues to enjoy getting to know other Mums on campus through coffee group. We are beginning to settle into church, are attending a homegroup and also meeting with other young families fairly regularly.

Three weeks of holidays ahead and most of it is going to be spent with family. We are going up to Northland to visit Helen's Dad and Sarah plus Brother and Grandfather tommorrow for a few days. The following week, Simon's sister and her three kids are coming to stay with us in Auckland where the zoo, the museum and the skate park should keep us all occupied. Then in the third week Helen and I intend to spend a few days on our own before baby number two arrives. In terms of Helen's health and sleep and well being, we are nearing the 'I wish the baby would come soon stage.' Baby due July 27. Four weeks time.

It's been a fairly hectic weekend with a final interview with the NZ OMF board on Friday evening over dinner, a half day OMF prayer meeting on Saturday and then duties at church this morning. The good news...
After a year of application we have been provisionally approved as OMF members. This means that barring any health problems with our new baby and with Helen after giving birth we should be looking to head overseas again in a couple of years time after Simon has finished his degree. We both feel relieved about this, giving us some firm idea about our next steps. Also helps with course selection (context context context) and general focus in all aspects of life. Simon is looking into starting up Mandarin classes for next semester with Taiwan in mind.

Well away to sleep before a few days holiday.

Shalom.

Progress...

2010-05-01T21:55:00.001+12:00

It is hard to believe that we have now been in Auckland at Laidlaw for three months.

Things are progressing well and we are enjoying being closer to family.

Helen is healthy – with limited morning sickness and much more energy now, the Baby being due on July 27^th. Three more months until more sleepless nights! She has had a couple of days of relief teaching at a local catholic secondary school and is getting to know a few other Mums around campus with coffee groups and children coming over to our house to play.

Henry is thriving! His talking continues to amaze us and most everyone we come into contact with. A memorable sentence of late being; ‘the rugby ball is bouncing on the surface of the water daddy.’ - Two years and four months! He is really enjoying two half days a week at ‘Olive Shoots,’ the childcare centre here on campus. He will sometimes ask to go for a walk past the centre on days off with the hope of going in.

Simon is being challenged and inspired in is study, his most enjoyable course being ‘Biblical Theology’ – an overview of the entire story of the Bible. A recent assignment required an in depth reading of Judges and Kings. Consequently a greater depth of understanding around the Old Testament shedding light on the New was gained.

We are settling into our local Anglican church, St. Michaels which is evangelical/charismatic. It is also quite a multicultural community, with Indian, Pacific Island, African, Asian and European influence. We find this encouraging and vibrant. We have also started attending a home group fortnightly which is a good way to get to know others. As of yet we have no formal ministry roles in the church.

Our application with OMF is progressing well. We have just completed our medical and psychological tests and now have a date for our final panel discussion/interview with the OMF NZ board. As we understand the process, the International Board then needs to give their go-ahead and after that we will be recognised as appointees – awaiting prayer support, financial support, finishing off study and then placement. So it seems that we should have a fairly clear indication within the next few months.

One definite OMF horizon is a three week short term mission trip to Thailand in December. Simon has been asked to co-lead an OMF Go team to visit New Zealand missionaries involved with church planting. The team will come from an east Auckland Chinese church and others who will apply and be interviewed. Simon will interview the prospective team, team build, programme build, go to Thailand and debrief with the team. Having been a part of a similar team while at university himself, it seems appropriate to now be leading.

That’s about all for now apart from a most enlightening verse from Acts, speaking of the integration of the story of the Bible from times of old until now. Get your Bibles out and read it if you will.

Bye for now,

God Bless.

Simon.

Settling In...

2010-03-01T07:41:00.007+13:00

Greetings to you all from Waitakere City – The Green City.

We have had a wonderful holiday, touring around the South Island and on up to Auckland. After tearful farewells in Greymouth we did a ten day tiki tour of circumnavigation. Greymouth, Makarora, Te Anau, Milford Sound, The Catlins, Dunedin, Ashburton, Kaikoura, Picton, Wellington, Taupo, Hamilton and Auckland. A long way to travel – over 3000 kms, but visitng friends and places we’ve been wanting to see for a long time made the trip worthwhile.

We have a lovely three bedroom home at Laidlaw College, set amongst apple trees with neighbours friendly and close by. Last week was orientation week and so the picture above shows our decorated bike at the family BBQ. It has been tiring settling in, with everything new and loads to unpack, but we are getting there.

This week sees lectures begin and Helen has chosen to take two non assessed papers; New Testament and Church History – Simon has a full load; four papers per semester with mostly Theology and Missions papers. We are both looking forward to our new routine.

Henry is settling in well; a little clingy and grizzly – but this is to be expected. He will start at ‘Olive Shoots’, on campus child care this week – two afternoons weekly.

It’s very warm up here, there are a lot of cars and a lot of people. Transition is difficult but we know we are in the right place doing the right thing and that feels good.

We look forward to your continued communication.

Our email: siandhele@gmail.com

If you are able to pray for us, we would appreciate that.

Please Pray for:

· Enjoyment and growth in study for Helen and Simon

· Ease of Transition to life in Auckland

· Health and Strength for Helen in Pregnancy

· Happiness in transition for Henry

· Finding a new Church Community

· Development of Significant Friendships

· Enough Financial resources for 2010

Thanks for your Interest!

Nearly Time to Go...

2010-01-24T17:29:00.007+13:00

Greetings of the New Year to you. 2010 certainly sounds impressive in my opinion - sounds like a space odyssey, but of course that is actually 2001. (This start to the blog is intended to get your interest - it's not normal to state the intent of a punchy start, but on a Sunday afternoon all rules are flexible.)

We had an enjoyable Christmas with Simon's Mum and Dad, sister and her family down in Greymouth staying with us. We did the traditional things with visits to the Coast, went to see the Glaciers, went to Punakaiki - stuff like that, then after Christmas we got straight on with painting our house...

We counted 15 days from the start of the painting road show to the end - in those 15 days we had only 5 that were rain free, and yes that was enough time to get all of the painting done - suffice to say there were some pretty long days. A Big thanks to my Mum and Dad who worked so hard to get the job done - the house looks great and we've all decided that this will be the last team effort at painting a house, none of us are getting any more energetic with age!

The good thing with the rainy days was that we were also able to get some packing done. We have a container coming next Saturday, the 30th and this requires a self pack, so the bubble wrap has been out, the bananna boxes have been acquired from the supermarket and we are slowly getting the packing done... a week to go.

We have been blessed with a number of farewell dinners and lunches to attend this week; plenty of great food and some sadness at departing the coast after five years. Overall however I think it would be fair to say that Helen and myself recognise it is the right thing to be moving on at this stage and are looking forward to the challenges ahead.

After packing up on the 30th, we will depart Greymouth on the 31st after a final service and farewell luncheon at Church. We then head to Makarora, Fiordland, the Catlins, Dunedin and on up to Picton and a meandering trip to Auckland - we haven't worked out all the details yet but there are plenty of people to catch up with along the way.

Oh I nearly forgot, Helen and I just spent a wonderful 4 days up in the Abel Tasman National Park doing some kayaking, it was great - I include a clip from our time there...

We should get to Auckland by the 14th of Feb and then have some friends form Taiwan visiting us for a week. We plan to show them around Auckland and head up to Helen's Aunty's beach bach at Tinopai, Kaipara Harbour before visitng Ashgrove, Helen's family farm in Maungaturoto.

Our gear is all arriving in Auckland at the Laidlaw College campus on the 20th of Feb and my course starts on March 1st. Reading between the lines you will have worked out we have accommodation organised on the campus, a four bedroom house... we may need this much space with another Baby due in July! There will always be a spare bedroom for anyone who wishes to come and visit too.

Well, that's about it for now, Henry has just awoken, so I'd better go get him up. Next blog will be from the city of sails.

Happy 2010. God Bless and hear from you soon.

Steps of Faith...

2009-11-26T22:24:00.007+13:00

After five fulfilling years in Greymouth, we are ready to move into the next stage of our lives.

Simon has been studying part time, by distance through Laidlaw College for the past four years and has been accepted into the full time course up in Auckland next year. So we will be moving to Auckland and Laidlaw College at the end of January 2010. Simon will complete a further two years of study and his Bachelor of Ministries Degree.

Having become parents in the last two years and enjoying the challenge, we have both spent 2009 juggling part time work with childcare. It has been an interesting experiment. Next year Helen will focus primarily on being a mother.

Further to study and a move to Auckland next year we have applied to OMF, Overseas Missionary Fellowship, to serve as partners in Taiwan upon completion of Simon's degree. It is quite a procedure going through the application process with medical tests, psych tests and the like. We should know by early next year if we have been fully accepted.

So exciting times ahead.

Helen has been working as a teacher these past five years in Greymouth, Simon in Radio and we have both been involved in our local Church fellowship. Our two year old son Henry is healthy and vibrant with strengthening opinions on everything!

We look forward to keeping in contact with you over the next period in our lives.

Henry is Cool...

2009-11-10T20:59:00.000+13:00

Good News

2009-10-29T04:03:00.002+13:00

I just had a conversation with Christine Harding - the Director of OMF here in New Zealand.

She is very happy with our application thus far and has been talking with the Director of OMF in Taiwan, he is also happy and encouraged by our desire to serve.

Praise God! It looks as if things are working out for us. I pray that the will of God will continue to unfold in our lives.

As a taste of things to come watch this...

Nelson on Ice

2009-10-18T20:06:00.006+13:00

Well, we took the plunge and decided to go camping in Nelson during early Spring... it was cold. Still it was very nice to get away. We stayed at Tahunanui motor camp for four nights - the final night we decided to go and stay with Helen's cousin as there was snow on the Hills!

During our time away we went walking along the beach, went to a couple of nice cafes, had dinner out with Simon's Uncle and Helen's cousin, patted the furry animals with Henry at Natureland and played on many of the plethora of childrens playgrounds around Tahunanui.

Simon always stayed at this camping ground when he was a child over the summer time, so in a sense we were going back to re-live some childhood dreams.

Unfortunately on the way home Simon got food poisoning and was curled up for the next few days with vomitting ... and the other end! He is on the mend now an we are all back into the swing of the final term.

Both of us have resigned from our jobs and have nine weeks to go until we have both finished. We have a much clearer date now for moving up to Bible college and full time study next year in Auckland, around the 25th of January.

Simon still has a few more weeks of his study to go this term with last minute assignments and essays to prepare and Helen is working hard to finish her school year off well. Henry is pretty much eating and sleepping and playing with the vigour of a nearly two year old.

We will be outlining our plans for next year and beyond at Holy Trinity Church Greymouth on the weekend of 7 and 8 Novemebr, so if any of you can make it to the services you would be most welcome.

You can see all of our holiday photos and videos on the our photos or our videos link on the right had side of this page. Enjoy the photos there are some nice ones.

Bye for now.

Spring is Here...

2009-09-03T17:30:00.003+12:00

And I suppose with the change of the seasons, there is room for change in our lives. I'm particularly looking forward to the Whitebait season here on the West Coast - it began just this week, the weather has been a bit inclement, so no chance to get out yet, but perhaps this weekend.

Well things have been keeping on here, progressing as our little family looks toward next year.

We recentltly had the OMF South Island representative come and stay with us for the weekend. She was getting to know us a little better, meeting with our Vicar here and discussing support options into next year. The good news is that our church, Holy Trinity Anglican Greymouth has agreed to support us. They are going to give us a fixed lump sum at the end of the year and then look at ongoing support next year - so this is great. We didn't ask for financial assistance but when memebers of the congregation and vestry heard that we were looking toward going out with OMF in the near future things moved ahead pretty quick - Praise God!

So where are we at? Well we're still working through the official application process with OMF. It is quite a long process, involving paper work, interviews, referees, medicals, psychological assessments and the like. I imagine most of the paper work will be done by the end of this month but the medicals and psych tests may not be done until we are up in Auckalnd next year. Suffice to say we are planning a 'Where are we going and What are we doing' talk at church here in Greymouth on November the 8th. So all is progressing well. OMF is really postive and encouraging and as mentioned with the support from our church they are obviously onboard too. We can't say 100% for now that we have been accpeted by OMF until all of the processes are complete. This includes financing and prayer support. Thankfully we have plenty of time to do this.

Why do I say plenty of time? Well we are planning to go up to Auckland next year so that Simon can complete his Bacehlor of Ministries and so that Helen can look at doing some study also. We have applied to live on campus and I have just found out today that my application as a full time student for 2010 has been accpeted.

So yeah there we have it - We've been offically pronounced as 'Missionaries' by our local church - feels kind of strange and a bit hard to live up to, like everyone is now watching us with eagle eyes! We are working through the application process with OMF and I've been accpeted to Laidlaw College next year. Our longer term plans at this stage are to return to Taiwan in a couple of years to begin a 5-10 year stay there.

All of this is really exciting and as we look toward next year, it's kind of hard keeping our feet on the ground here. The good thing is that we will have an onoing relationship with Greymouth and the West Coast, so everything we do now is building to the future.

We'll keep you all posted.

God Bless,

Simon.

Here's something to cheer you up for spring...

Our Time in Hanmer

2009-07-24T13:59:00.006+12:00

Well, what a Great Holiday we had in Hanmer Springs. It was cold, but what else do you expect on a Winter Holiday? We had Loads of Fun, incluing swimming in the Hot Pools, going on bush walks, riding our bikes through the forrest and we even managed to fit in a day in Christchurch which we mostly spent buying stuff for Henry and Eating! Following are some of the highlights...

So yeah we stayed in the camping ground, infact the place Simon used to stay when we was a child, every Easter - in a tent. The Hot Pools were also there when he was a kid as they still are now...

One of the highlights of our time away was driving up the Jacks Pass Road and finding snow... Henry loved it as you can see...

We didn't get snow at the camping ground, but it was certainly cold...

The Mountain Biking was fun...

And on our Final Day we had a lovely breakfast out...

So the new term is upon us. Helen is back teaching at school and Simon has begun his internship at church. We will let you know how everything is progressing soon.

If you'd like to check out any more photos or videos of our time away amongst other things, just click on the 'our photos' or 'our videos' links at the top right of this blog page.

Bye for now.

Happy Holidays...

2009-07-01T21:24:00.002+12:00

Well it's been a long term.

Simon's exams are finally over and he thinks he did OK. He was studying Theology - Christology and New Testament - Acts and Espistles. The new term ahead involves an internship at Holy Trinity Church in Greymouth. This will take him through until the end of the year and means he will complete the first year of his degree.

What then? We are thinking of moving up to Auckland to be nearer to family and so that Simon can finish his degree on campus. The degree must be finished within 8 years of starting and he is already 4 years in.

So some changes may be in the wind.

As alluded to as few blogs ago, Helen and I are getting a fairly clear picture of the road ahead. In April we attended an OMF, Overseas Missionary Fellowship, conference in Christchurch. Here we met the Director of OMF NZ. She was very encouraging about our desire to serve in Mission overseas and so in the last week we have completed our applications to be missionaries in training with OMF as we look to move to Auckland and complete study next year.

We will probbly live on campus at Laidlaw in Henderson, living off a student allowance and being suplemented by our rental property income - if the accountant allows it!

In the term just passed, one of the highlights for Helen and myself has been the leading of 'The Marriage Course' at church. We had 10 couples attending and many saw much growth in their marriages over the duration of the programme and hopefully into the future as well. Next half as a part of his internship - Simon will help to run an Alpha course at Church along a similar format to the marriage course.

Henry continues to grow and talk and be full of energy. He has also had couple of coughs and colds as can be expected in Winter and is actually a bit bunged up at present. He is still a delightful child even when sick though. A highlight for us this week being our visit to the new Greymouth Aquatic Centre, indoor pool, spa, sauna, hydroslides etc. Standing at the door looking in at the children and the flowing water Henry pronounced; 'AMAZING' He really is a good talker for his age. Is he a genius - do all parents think this?

We are really looking forward to a visit from Helen's Mum and partner and Simon's parents over the coming school holidays. We miss having family here. We may even get a night away by ourselves without Henry if one set of Grandparents wish to oblige. We are also planning four nights away to Hanmer Springs next week too, for some hot pool relaxation, walks in the woods, cycling though pine forest and a compulsory trip to Christchurch for the Baby Factory and probably some yummy food that isn't available in Greymouth.

Well that's about all for now - no picures this time - I figure I've posted enough in recent blogs. Check out the links to our photos and videos on this page if you want to see more. I promise we'll send picutres and video of our Hanmer Winter Holiday.

God Bless All,

Simon.

Tribute to the King

2009-06-30T21:41:00.000+12:00

Eclectic Method - Long Live The King (Michael Jackson Mix) from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

2009-06-28T21:10:00.002+12:00