Yes, it's been a difficult couple of weeks with a mixture of emotions... from peace and comfort to sadness and grief. Two weeks ago late on Tuesday night our normal routine of "Life Groups" was completely shattered. Joshua and Faith had come home from the teen life group among rumors that some students from a local Christian school were missing. Some of these students were also from our church teen group or known of our church teen group so the news was met with a mixture of fear yet at the same time complacency that all would be well. The twelve honor role students from this Christian school were on a "Leadership Building" camp in a National Park Forest about four hours South of Auckland. This National Park is a rugged area with rocky mountainous terrain framed by the ever present Mt. Ruapehu volcanic cone. The twelve students and two teachers were accompanied by a guide from the Sir Edmund Hilary Outdoor Center where they were to hike into a canyon and then follow the river through the mountains for the day. It's a popular camp with professional staff and many groups do this same trek every year.
Late Tuesday evening the call had come in that the students, teachers and guide were all missing followed by another call after midnight that seven had been found and seven were still missing. During the hiking expedition an unpredicted weather system had quickly moved in and produced a torrential rain storm. The six students and one teacher that was found described getting separated from the other teacher and six students during the rain storm. They told of how the knee high river they were to follow turned into a raging river over 10 feet high in just a matter of seconds. They had no idea what had become of the others in the group.
Later, just before daybreak, tragic news came from the camp that seven bodies had been recovered from the river. Now reality was setting in, seven lived, seven perished. As the day progressed the names of the students slowly were confirmed. One of the students was Tom. Tom was a close friend of Joshua and Faith and had attended our teen group for almost three years. He spent many days and evenings at our house and his family had become close personal friends to us and also attended our church. Faith was especially devastated with Tom's death... Tom had cerebral palsy and walked with a noticeable limp and his right hand stayed close to his body and did not function well. Tom also had a speech impairment due to his condition. Faith took it upon herself to help Tom in many ways... she loved to assist Tom and Tom loved the special attention. He was a real character with an outgoing personality and enjoyed making people laugh. His favorite introduction line in our teen group for the new members was to say "Hi, my name is Tom, but don't confuse me with Tom Cruise, because I'm better looking". Everyone would roar with laughter when Tom said this. Tom also was a practical joker that could turn a bad day into a fun filled evening. His physical disability in no way kept him from excelling in academics as he was chosen from a large group of capable students for this canyoning expedition.
The day after the tragedy the news media was everywhere in our community looking for a human angle to the story. Someone had given Faith's name as close friend of Tom so she was interviewed by the news organizations.... and proudly she was able to be strong and proclaim that Tom had placed his trust in Jesus so we know where Tom is. The news reporters continually commented on how this Christian school and church community seemed to face death in a different way than most people. The story was played on the nightly news for most of the week, another interview with another student, yet the same story... Jesus is good and we will be reunited with the students and teacher who perished. I think the news media heard this story so many times that they began to beleive.
The teacher that lost his life was found with Tom strapped to his body. Because of Tom's cerebral palsy it is surmised that the teacher must have somehow reached Tom before being swept away. Tom didn't stand a chance of escape to outrun the raising water.... the teacher must have strapped Tom to his own body to try to save Tom. The teacher was also a local youth pastor and his father was the pastor of our neighboring church. Perhaps all the students who died did so to stay with the one who could not get away from the flood. I guess we will never know until Jesus tells us. But if they did give up the chance to escape and stay behind with the one who could not run it would not be surprising since they were all leaders among their peers and they were all believers in Christ. I guess the thought of sacrificing one's life for another and trusting God all the way was not a strange idea to them.
Our entire church family and especially our teen group has changed since this event. Life in Christ seems to have an even more significant meaning than before. Our teens are determined more than ever to live for Jesus and share the "Good News". Joshua's new friend came to church with him on Sunday. After the message Joshua accompanied his friend to the altar where this young man placed his trust in Jesus. Life is funny...strange! Someone dies, someone lives. I'm glad that God is in control.
Ciao
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Ordination Service
Hi Everyone,
It's been quite hectic over the past few weeks, but in a good way! Two weeks ago our church hosted the ordination of a New Zealand pastor. Myself along with three other pastors was on the ordination committee for Steve who was ordained out of our church and has since started another church. It was a great day as we met with Steve and then later his congregation. The new church has now been released into Pastor Steve's care and they are a growing church.
Our building project at International baptist Church is nearly completed with the first phase... should be finished by the end of April. Next we are doing some upgrade on the current building to make a larger kitchen and nursery for the babies. Have have so many young families that our baby section in the church is growing fast... we usually have 10 - 15 babies under two years old each Sunday. Faith works in the nursery along with Nicky, she loves helping the babies.
Last week a man came into the church on Tuesday in a desperate situation... he has occasionally attended the church services but is not very regular in attendance. But his situation was evident that he needed a change in his life. He needed to have salvation but was not ready, so he is going to come back later in the week and continue our discussion about his real need in his life.
Joshua is preparing for his trip to Australia next week. He was selected to play on the New Zealand international team for a tournament in Australia. Joshua is a pitcher, and a pretty good one, but the teams that he will be facing in Australia are men teams so not too sure how he will do against the men. Did I mention before that we are now the parents of a teen driver? Anyway, a few weeks ago Joshua got his driving permit which is the first step before getting a full drivers license. He has to have the permit for six months then can apply for a driving test to get the full license. In NZ a learner driver has to display a yellow sign on the front and back of the car with a big "L" which indicates to all other drivers that you are a learner. Since Joshua and I share the same car, our old 1992 Chariot, I get a lot of strange looks driving around with a big "L" displayed.
Big news in NZ about a major economic deal signed with China. NZ signed a "Free Trade" agreement with China last week becoming the first westernized country to do so. Most countries like the USA will not sign a Free Trade deal with China due to their history of sub-standard human rights treatment. So, NZ has broken the mold and forged new ground. Most economist in NZ are skeptical that this will do any thing except create more overseas immigration into NZ. certain our local companies are complaining because it makes them less competitive in the market against the cheaper Chinese goods. So it will be interesting to see if our NZ companies move their operations over-seas as they are threatening to do or if they ride out the policy and get used to the more competitive market. Maybe this will bring prices down in NZ.... speaking of which the housing market here is in the beginning of a real downward spiral. Most houses have lost 10% of their value in the past three months and experts predict that the downward spiral could cause a further 20%-30% drop in the value of the average house. Get this, and average size house in our neighborhood with four bedrooms and two baths is currently selling for $600,000. And most houses are built on less than 1/5 of an acre of land! No point to try to buy a house here the prices are simply too expensive.... that is why the average income family rents a house to live in but they may own two or more houses in less expensive places in the country and rent these houses out.... by owning two houses that are low budget houses and renting them out they can afford to rent a house for their family in a nicer neighborhood. It's not the ideal situation but most "kiwis" are quite inventive in their investing.
Ciao
It's been quite hectic over the past few weeks, but in a good way! Two weeks ago our church hosted the ordination of a New Zealand pastor. Myself along with three other pastors was on the ordination committee for Steve who was ordained out of our church and has since started another church. It was a great day as we met with Steve and then later his congregation. The new church has now been released into Pastor Steve's care and they are a growing church.
Our building project at International baptist Church is nearly completed with the first phase... should be finished by the end of April. Next we are doing some upgrade on the current building to make a larger kitchen and nursery for the babies. Have have so many young families that our baby section in the church is growing fast... we usually have 10 - 15 babies under two years old each Sunday. Faith works in the nursery along with Nicky, she loves helping the babies.
Last week a man came into the church on Tuesday in a desperate situation... he has occasionally attended the church services but is not very regular in attendance. But his situation was evident that he needed a change in his life. He needed to have salvation but was not ready, so he is going to come back later in the week and continue our discussion about his real need in his life.
Joshua is preparing for his trip to Australia next week. He was selected to play on the New Zealand international team for a tournament in Australia. Joshua is a pitcher, and a pretty good one, but the teams that he will be facing in Australia are men teams so not too sure how he will do against the men. Did I mention before that we are now the parents of a teen driver? Anyway, a few weeks ago Joshua got his driving permit which is the first step before getting a full drivers license. He has to have the permit for six months then can apply for a driving test to get the full license. In NZ a learner driver has to display a yellow sign on the front and back of the car with a big "L" which indicates to all other drivers that you are a learner. Since Joshua and I share the same car, our old 1992 Chariot, I get a lot of strange looks driving around with a big "L" displayed.
Big news in NZ about a major economic deal signed with China. NZ signed a "Free Trade" agreement with China last week becoming the first westernized country to do so. Most countries like the USA will not sign a Free Trade deal with China due to their history of sub-standard human rights treatment. So, NZ has broken the mold and forged new ground. Most economist in NZ are skeptical that this will do any thing except create more overseas immigration into NZ. certain our local companies are complaining because it makes them less competitive in the market against the cheaper Chinese goods. So it will be interesting to see if our NZ companies move their operations over-seas as they are threatening to do or if they ride out the policy and get used to the more competitive market. Maybe this will bring prices down in NZ.... speaking of which the housing market here is in the beginning of a real downward spiral. Most houses have lost 10% of their value in the past three months and experts predict that the downward spiral could cause a further 20%-30% drop in the value of the average house. Get this, and average size house in our neighborhood with four bedrooms and two baths is currently selling for $600,000. And most houses are built on less than 1/5 of an acre of land! No point to try to buy a house here the prices are simply too expensive.... that is why the average income family rents a house to live in but they may own two or more houses in less expensive places in the country and rent these houses out.... by owning two houses that are low budget houses and renting them out they can afford to rent a house for their family in a nicer neighborhood. It's not the ideal situation but most "kiwis" are quite inventive in their investing.
Ciao
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)