It is now day three of the placement and I am finding that the effort put in by many over the past seven months, to make this happen, is paying off. The acceptance into the community has been great both for me individually but also as a family (the boys haven't messed about when it comes to finding children to play with either).
The place is a good place to work as there are great things going on and even the harder issues are being tackled with enthusiasm and vigour.
The project work has started well, not least because of the input from my "guiding light" over the past seven months of preparation and the fact that they are a small part of big things in action.
It is truly amazing how an Anglican Ordinand can travel half way round the world and get together with a Baptist minister and Church! The power of the (evil - a post-modern view!) internet?
There was little by the way of rest-bite before things started on the Tuesday and it was not until today that I managed to get some down time with Jo and the boys in which we did some great touristy things.
And the bad bits so far? It is cold, well actually it isn't that cold (somewhere between 8-12 degrees) and we have had sunshine predominantly, but it is very cold compared to what we left in the UK and it is dark by 5.30pm. Kiwi's don't seem to do central heating either, but the log fires are nice and the boys think hot-water bottles are great fun!
It is kind of surreal dropping into a different culture, doing work with this community of believers that I don't know, listening, learning, digesting and enjoying and being amazed by the obvious, one body of Christ, one God, Missio Dei.
And here we are doing the opposite! Make sure you head out to Hamner Springs if you have time.
And if you like wine, scoot over to the winery's outside of Queenstown for a weekend.
Enjoy it down there!
Posted by: Craig (mars-hill) | August 04, 2006 at 12:20 PM
Thanks Craig
Posted by: Nigel | August 05, 2006 at 09:50 AM