"As long as it is day, we must do 

the work of him who sent me.  

Night is coming, when no one can work."

John 9:4

     As I have now passed the six month mark on my stay here in New Zealand, I am beginning to feel more comfortable with some of the things I once thought strange in the culture here.  However, new things that I find strange or different have come about and keep life interesting!  For example, I no longer stare at people as they walk to and fro barefoot as it is such a common occurrence.  Driving on the left side of the road seems pretty normal to me now and roundabouts are so easy to use I wish we had them in America.  However, it's really hard to get in the Christmas spirit as the weather is getting warmer and virtually no houses have Christmas decorations up anywhere.  It also feels odd for me to be winding down to the end of the school year in mid-December...should be May, right?  

     As life moves on here in Aotearoa we are all continuing to adjust and grow.  Our church has several new (or returned) people in it which is very exciting!  Lori has done a spectacular job with starting the youth group in our church.  The church already had a thriving Kids' Club going which is still going well, but we didn't have much for the older kids.  Lori has taken on that role quite well.  Our kids have continued to do well in school while making friends which has been great for them.  I am finishing up the school year at Dargaville High School where I have been teaching science and chemistry.  It has been a good experience for me to teach there especially as many of the students are inquisitive about my background.  Their questions about me have opened up several opportunities to share with them that I am here as a volunteer missionary and to ask them about their own beliefs.  

     Trying to share your faith and encourage others in one of the most secular nations on Earth is quite challenging.  The people of New Zealand are a proud and independent sort of people which is quite inspiring.  However, it also makes them often feel as though they don't need help or intervention from God as they forge their way through life.  Those who do believe in God often don't go to church or belong to any kind of small group setting where they can help each other spiritually.  Statistics say that the average Christian Kiwi who says they regularly attend church and are part of a church family actually attend church about once a month.  This is drastically different from what I am used to in America but is considered normal here.  Again, witnessing in a very secular nation can be very challenging.

     A few weeks ago we had our district assembly where all the Nazarene churches of New Zealand sent representatives to a meeting in Auckland.  This was a fascinating time as the majority of our churches in New Zealand are filled with people from countries or backgrounds other than New Zealand.  We have churches with people from Samoa, India, Colombia, America, Singapore, and, of course, New Zealand.  This made for a fun and interesting assembly that we won't soon forget.   Here are a few pictures from our district assembly.

 Lori with some of the ladies at a women's conference.

     A few weeks ago we celebrated Thanksgiving with some other Americans here in Whangarei which was really nice.  As New Zealand doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving the work week went on as normal but a few other Americans joined us at one of their houses for a classic Thanksgiving meal!  We had turkey, ham, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, rolls, sweet potato casserole, and much more!  It was a nice "taste of home".  Anyway, I will leave you with a few other pictures from recent times.  

Me and my sweetie at Smuggler's Bay

Kiwi crossing!

 Having fun at youth group!

Our yard on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Tane Mahuta, the largest kauri tree in New Zealand (in the Waipoua Forest).

Artwork in the hall at Kamo Intermediate School.

Hollister at his school's Christmas program.

Kids' Club fun!

My classroom

     Kia ora!  Haere mai.  Hello!  Welcome.  It's been a while since I have updated my blog and I thought that now that I have been here in New Zealand for a little over four months I thought it would be fun to share some of the things that are different here as well as a few things that are familiar.  I will also give you a few updates on the things happening here that God is directing!
     Since I had never left the United States before coming to New Zealand, I was in for a real surprise on how cultures can be different!  Even though many things are similar here to life in the United States there are enough things that are different that it makes life interesting.  For example, Hadley went to a friend's house earlier this morning and his friend's mom said for Hadley to bring his togs with him.  Suddenly, in my mind, I was thinking "okay, I know what togs are...oh yeah, swimming trunks".  Sometimes the different words are funny and sometimes make for awkward situations.  One of the first times I went to a public toilet was at a marae which is sort of like a community center in the Maori culture.  The choices written above the doors were "tane" and "wahine".  Luckily I had seen this written somewhere and all I could remember was that the women's side started with "w" in Maori too.  Otherwise, that could have been really bad!  Almost all the houses here in Whangarei have fences around the whole property or at least the front yard as opposed to only the back yard (if that) of houses in Tennessee.  Food is different here too.  The food here is not necessarily better or worse tasting than American food...just different.  We still try to make the foods at home that we are used to and sometimes it tastes the same and sometimes not.  Lori and I have decided that the pizza in New Zealand is definitely not the same as in America.  In fact, we have already said that when we return home, pizza is one of the first things we want to eat.  We've also been exposed to some Samoan foods as many of our Nazarene churches in New Zealand are made up mostly of Samoans who have migrated here.  The Samoan food is much more different than the Kiwi food but all that we have tried so far is delicious!  Lori made a Samoan chop suey a few nights ago and it was great.  Here are some pictures of things that are different from what we were used to.

Views like these are great and often remind me of Tennessee.

Watching the NFL's Sunday games on Monday since we are about fifteen hours ahead.  I'm just glad one channel here shows the games!

You can't go a week without seeing a rainbow here.  I've seen as many as five in one day!

Driving on the left side of the road has taken some getting used to!  However, I really like the roundabouts...we should totally use them in America!  By the way, if you look really closely at this picture, you can see the Whangarei Harbour in the distance.

Schools here are designed with much more outdoor, open spaces.  This is the center courtyard at Dargaville High School where I teach.  FYI: every time I drive to work I cross the country from the east coast to the west coast in 55 minutes!

Seeing speed limit signs of 100 is still kind of funny to me.  For those that not good with their metric conversions, that is about 63 mph. 

Some things here are familiar even though they might not be exactly the same.  For example, here are a few pictures of fast food places that are incredibly popular here in New Zealand as well as a few other things most of you will recognize:

     Some things have been really difficult here.  For example, just being away from family and friends is really tough at times.  We miss the food but can still eat.  We miss some of the television shows of America but can still watch TV here.  Even though we are making lots of new friends here, the closest we can come to our family is using Skype to video chat.  I really hate that I am missing my nephew Dalton's senior year of playing football.  I have been able to listen to one of his games on the radio and followed along with the others on Twitter but it's not the same.  He has taken over the quarterback role this year for the first time ever after the team's starting quarterback had a season-ending injury and Dalton is doing great at it!  I hope he knows that I wish I could be there and that I am really proud of how he has stepped up in this new role on the team.  He's also a straight A student in his classes and receiving honors for his academic work.  Way to go Dalton!

Dalton playing quarterback.  (Picture from The Star Press, Muncie, Indiana)

   
      Finally, let me leave you with some pictures from our kids club we have on Sunday nights for kids in school years 1 - 6 (grades K-5) and our revive youth group for kids in school years 7-13 (grades 6-12).  God is working in these kids' lives and we are trying to help guide them in the right direction.  Please pray for our outreach to these young people in our community.  Oh yeah, a few pictures from our visit to the park the other day as well.  ;o)