Well, things are happening at New Hope Church of the Nazarene in Whangarei, New Zealand!  Our pastor, Alison Weinstock, has returned to the United States in preparation for her upcoming marriage to Chad Johnson this November.  A few days before Alison left New Zealand our new pastor couple, Rob and Kolene Hintz, arrived in Whangarei.  They were able to spend a day with Alison before she left which helped to make the transition a bit smoother.  Rob and Kolene have quickly settled in as part of our loving church family.  They too are from America although they have called several different places home during their lives (Kolene grew up as a missionary kid in the Philippines and Rob spent part of his growing years in Canada).  For the last eight years they have been serving the Lord in Korea.  We are excited to have them here in Whangarei and they are excited about trying to help our church reach out to the community.
     With Lori and I now living in Whangarei we have been able to be at church functions throughout the week and not just on Sundays which has been great!  We have a prayer meeting on Mondays and a bible study on Wednesdays that is a joy to attend.  I truly believe that God has big plans for how this church is going to reach out to our local community.  We are already seeing a couple of new people coming to the church out of simple interest in the church or from being invited!  The following pictures show our prayer meeting group from a couple of weeks ago and the second picture is of Lori and our new pastor's wife, Kolene.

     Lori and Heidi have also had the chance to sing together at church which everyone enjoyed...well, everyone except Heidi!

     We are also enjoying the backyard play area and the fruit trees in the yard.  

     And, finally, we had fun today at a birthday party and doing some last minute school shopping.  

     May God bless you all as you carry out His mission for you whether that takes you next door, down the street, to work, to school, or around the world!  We thank you all for your continued support and prayers for us!  Steve