Avalanche Peak

Despite the smiles, it was hard work, and this photo isn't even at the top of Avalanche Peak!

Feb 6th is Waitangi Day in NZ - the national day commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi back in 1840. It's still controversial between Maori and Pakeha, but progress is being made. It's a stat holiday so we went off to the mountains, with Phil, a friend from Gloucester (thanks for being photographer Phil!). Big walk. Huge. Not really a walk, more a tramp. Even then Liz would argue with me and say it was a big scramble. Phil of course, is a mountain goat whereas Liz and I aren't. It took us 9 hours up and down. I reckon it was worth the stiffness the next couple of days, but Liz might disagree!

I went up Avalanche Peak in the spring, so there was more snow around than mid summer and significantly less sweat! Far too hot for mountains in February. At the top we met some Israeli backpackers who loved the mountains. Then a kea (NZ mountain parrot) came along, and as keas do, strutted for their cameras. Although an endangered species, they don't always seem it as they love people. Then, without warning, it picked up their camera case in its beak and flew off with it! Next came some (what I assume were) Hebrew expletives for that was the end of the camera case, batteries and memory card. They'll not forget keas in a hurry. Typical kea.

Was a physically exhausting day, but great to be away from campus / office for a day. Thanks for suggesting it Phil.

Veggie garden

We grew these - honest! Never been into growing edibles before, but now we've got great soil and encouragement from all around, we've given it a go, with some veggies doing ok and others nearly dead (won't do sweetcorn or cucumber again, but carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, radish, blueberries and courgettes all good)! But those carrots and potatoes really did test better than bought ones. Give it a go!

British beer and British friends

We're now back from our UK Christmas break. Was great to back in the Motherland (as we christened it!) and very reassuring that our two fears weren't realised. Before we went we worried that we'd react in one of two bad ways:
1. That we'd realise the UK is lovely and wouldn't want to return to NZ.
2. That we'd realise that the UK is horrible and wouldn't want to ever return to the UK.
Thankfully, neither emotion swept over us. Somewhat obviously really, as we're both 'middle-of-the-road' kind of people and not usually swaying too far one way or the other on most things. But I guess that in our adaptability we have a different (smaller) problem - there are many many things that we love about being here in NZ, and there are many many things that we love about the UK. The problem is that those things aren't the same for the UK and NZ.
What am I saying? That we were pleased to be home in the UK, and that it's equally nice to be home in NZ - we've now got two homes.

Top of the list of 'lovely-things-we-like-about-the-UK' are real ale (well, Mothy at least, and even Liz a bit), friends & family that fit like a glove thanks to years of relationship, and the UK church.

Real ale - brewed as down the centuries (no fizzy tasteless artificially-preserved lager thank you very much!) - is just wonderful, especially the IPAs. I really enjoy real ale, and it was wonderful to sample a pint in many places. Thanks to so many who indulged me during our UK jaunt. Looking forward to next time! Beer is an interesting subject - not only in the merits of ale over lager but in terms of disagreements in the wider Christian community. Two guys I respect have recently put both the 'drink to the glory of God' and 'abstain for the glory of God' arguments. Mark Driscoll, from Seattle in the USA is for, according to his Reformission book (thanks for the Christmas present Grandpa & Nan!); Paul Windsor of Carey college here in NZ is against, according to his excellent blog (www.carey.ac.nz/pauls_blog). For a host of reasons I'd have to side with Driscoll on this one. Maybe I'll blog later on why, and how to interpret that in a NZ student context, which is certainly very different from the USA and the UK (try telling some Christian students in NZ that many Christian students in the UK go to the pub every week and be amazed at the reactions - I guess from Driscoll's book the same reactions would be encountered in the USA).

Friends and family fitting like a glove. Just great being with people who 'get' us and we 'get' them (at least some of the time). Thank you to all we spent time with - you've encouraged us far more than we you. Double thank you to those that bought me a pint of ale!!

The UK church. Just great to be with old friends and wonderful to see faces new to our home church in the last couple of years - either due to being born physically (so many babies!), being born spiritually or moving into the area. There seemed to be a real sense of purpose and wanting to serve God. In fact, the whole UK church we encountered was encouraging. Something for us to muse - did we like the experiences of church because we're British, or because the church is stronger in the UK, or both? Mmmm.........

A photo with which to leave you - me drinking some fine ale in the New Inn in Gloucester (which, being in the UK is obviously not 'New' but quite old - 1500 hundreds). Me, real ale, new jumper/jersey (thanks to in-laws). Great!

Holiday time

We're now looking forward very much to our trip back to the UK in 2 weeks from now! Someone asked me today what I was looking forward to most, and I couldn't say - unless I'm allowed to say 'all the people'. This is a piccy of when my good friend Anna came to visit in October, and we had such fun together, and such good chats. It was so encouraging that although we hadn't seen each other for 2 years, and hadn't even talked on the phone all that much, we could pick up just where we'd left off, and it didn't feel as though so much time had passed at all! Hurrah! So it will be very interesting to see the M25, and compare it to SH1, and Mothy can't wait to taste the beer... but the main thing...?

I'm told there's an old Maori saying that goes:

He aha te mea nui?
He tangata. He tangata. He tangata.

What is the most important thing? It is people, it is people, it is people.

Glad rags II

While Mothy was strutting his stuff in Parparaumu, I got to wear a sari at church for a morning, while the missions team were doing a focus on Freeset bags in India. Check out www.freesetbags.com. My friend Joan (formerly from Malaysia, and now neighbour across the road), had to dress me though! I must say I felt very beautiful, and putting jeans back on was very dull. I can see that wearing a sari would be surprisingly practical - once you got used to it. Apparently Joan didn't do me enough pleats - so I waddled in mine a bit!

Glad rags

Mothy was recently at SLC, (Student Leadership Conference) which was inspiring and encouraging and a great time! Here's a picture of him, showing his farmer tan! Various TSCF staff got to take part in a fashion show, and wear different items of clothing with the new TSCF logo in regional colours for where they work, and then the clothing got auctioned off. Mothy thinks he got the biggest cheer!

LUCF leaders 2006-7

It's now the end of the undergrad academic year here in Lincoln (some other NZ unis are still going), and I realised I ought to blog about the LUCF leadership team. Last week one of the team asked me for a reference for a scholarship application, which I was happy to write. When they read it, they said 'Are you sure that's about me Mothy?'. It made me realise that I might not be enthusiastic enough about the group of people with whom I plan and pray for the gospel on this campus.
Here's a picture of the team, at a weekend away on Banks Peninsula, a time to pray and plan big picture stuff for the year ahead. We stayed in a bach on Rue De La Mer, which is quaint if a little odd (Akaroa, the French settlement is over the hill).

They're a great laugh, even if some of the lads did insist on sleeping on the cricket outfield in bivvy bags with a fire in the morning to warm up.


They are all dedicated to the gospel in Lincoln. There's some gifted leaders, administrators, ideas people and evangelists. Sure, some lack boldness and confidence as many do, and some need to learn to have more confidence in the Bible as complete and sufficient for faith and in evangelism - but I'm pleased to be in Lincoln with Jess, Teresa, Saki, Will, Pete, Nicole, Cam, Phil & Rhys.

I pray that their summer season, on farms, in mines, in seed companies, with family both in NZ and Japan - will be a time that they continue to become more like Jesus and that the Holy Spirit will encourage and excite them about the gospel in 2007 - in every area of the campus. I pray that they will pass on vision to new students, and that they'll be excited about TSCF nationwide.