Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the 

Son of Man to be glorified.  I tell you the truth,

unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and 

dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if 

it dies, it produces many seeds."

                                            --John 12:23-24 

     With a new year always comes reflections of the past and thoughts on the future.  I must admit that during my eight months here in New Zealand I have often wondered if I am doing anything that will have lasting effects on people and God's kingdom.  After all, that was our whole purpose for moving here in the first place.  As I have thought about it, I can't tell you what effects will be noticeable in the future, but I can tell you that God is working.  I have had the opportunity to witness to many people here in different situations from students to professed atheists to fellow churchgoers to complete strangers as well as friends and neighbors.  I don't really know what will come from any of these conversations and opportunities but I know that I have tried to plant a seed that will grow with God's help.  Being a gardener I always enjoy the spiritual references to plants, seeds, etc. such as the verse above that I started with.  Over the years people helped to plant that seed in me while God watered and cared for that seed until I could be like the seed that falls to the ground only to have numerous other plants and seeds come from it.  I hope that the things I am doing here in the land of Kiwis is making a difference; not because of me but because of God and the Holy Spirit infiltrating these peoples' lives.  I'm saying this to challenge you to think about whether or not you have died to yourself and allowed Christ to take over your life (see Galatians 2:20).  I'm not saying that I am perfect...far from it.  However, I had to allow Christ to take over certain parts of my life in order to follow through with this missional adventure to New Zealand.  It has been one of the most difficult yet rewarding things I have experienced.  Why don't you let Christ become the center of your life and give up the reins to those things you don't want to let go of.  It won't be easy, but I promise it will be worth it.  

     On to a few of our recent happenings.  Over the past two weeks we have traveled the entire length of the North Island of New Zealand (we are still on summer break here so we have had some extra time to see and do things).  First, we went north to Cape Reinga to see the northernmost point of the country where the Tasman Sea (between NZ and Australia) and the Pacific Ocean meet.  

The week after traveling to Cape Reinga we made the long haul (11 hours) to Wellington to visit another American family.  We met Matt and Shannon Lesniak since we have been here in NZ and grown to become good friends with them even though we are living far apart here.  Matt is the pastor of the Valley Church of the Nazarene in Wainuiomata, near Wellington (http://valleychurchnz.weebly.com/).  We had the chance to spend a couple of days with their beautiful family and loved it!  We had eleven people in one house together and we all survived.  Actually, it went quite well with all of us together.  They took us the southern tip of the island to show us a seal colony.  The winds there were incredibly strong and the waves were spraying mist in the air.  It was quite impressive.  They also took us into Wellington for a ride on the Wellington Cable Car and to visit the Te Papa museum.  However, I think my favorite moment came when Lori and I joined them for their Wednesday night prayer service.  One other couple showed up, Reg and Leeth (not sure if I spelled her name right).  They are a Maori couple who truly love the Lord and their church.  They shared several stories with us that had us laughing and praying together.  Along the trip we were also able to see two volcanoes in the middle of the island, one of which was used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies.  The clouds partially covered them but it was still pretty awesome.

 I loved that this flower was blooming while growing on a rock in harsh conditions.

 This is Mt. Ruapehu, the largest active volcano in NZ.

 

 This is Mt. Ngauruhoe, better known to Lord of the Rings fans as Mt. Doom.

Our recent visit to the Mermaid Pools at Matapouri Beach, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

 Visiting the Wellington Cable Car.

 View of Wellington and the bay.

 Incredible larger-than-life display of the Battle of Gallipoli at Te Papa Museum.  That is Matt Lesniak and his son Tommy on the left.

 At Te Papa Museum.

 Hollister and Hadley at Te Papa Museum.

At Christmas we received a package from Lori's parents that included 63 Christmas cards from our church in Tennessee!  This meant a lot to us and it was wonderful to sit and read each and every card.

May God bless you and yours as you accept the challenge to put Christ in the center of your life!