Our First Christmas Away From Home

[Christmas Day in Wellington, NZ. 2006]

Christmas Dinner with the Team

Our STINT team found this great bistro on Tinakori Road in Wellington (appropriately named Tinakori Bistro) where we celebrated a Christmas dinner together. I had the venison medallions, which were deliciously amazing!

Oriental Bay

Here is a family picture of us at Oriental Bay in Wellington Harbor. You can see the hills that surround the bay and the city skyline in the background. Not too bad for a December day, huh?!

Dry Ground or Ready Soil?

New Zealand is a place known for its outdoor beauty. The two islands have created a culture for adventurous people. Kiwis are tough. They also take great pride in their accomplishments and abilities. In fact, it’s easy to find labels boasting the words “Made in New Zealand” on just about any kind of product. But for all that these islanders have going for them, they don’t realize that they are in the midst of a spiritual desert.
We have discovered this reality as we’ve engaged in spiritual conversations with students on the campuses here. We’ve found an unhealthy indifference to death and the possibility of life after death. As we’ve shared about Christ’s love with several of the university students and presented evidence for our faith, we’ve often come to the end our conversations with them finding that they might be able to agree with us intellectually, yet unable to believe in God without anything shy of witnessing repeated miracles for themselves.
Our hearts break for the spirit of unwillingness in New Zealanders to believe. The good news is that God is all about working miracles! And it serves as a clear reminder to us that we desperately need to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of these young people to bring about soft and changed hearts toward Christ… to bring about springs in the desert!

About Wellington

I've really enjoyed living in Wellington for the past month. The area is very beautiful with green hills everywhere that are dotted with colorful little houses. As the capitol city and art center of New Zealand, it seems like there is always much to see and do. It is often very windy here, earning it the nickname of 'Windy Wellington'. Despite the physical beauty of Wellington, we have encountered a broken down spirituality. It is clear why God has called us here to reach lost people for him. Below is a picture of our team taken from the Botanical Gardens that overlooks the city and the harbor. The gardens are next to the University of Victoria where we work. This was our final stop during a day of praying for the people of New Zealand, our campus ministry, and the world. It was a great visual for us to see the city we are asking God to reach the Gospel with!

Getting On The Blog Wagon

Okay, I've been a little slow at sincerely getting into the blogging scene, but as I've benefited from reading, seeing, and experience so many other people's blog... I guess my hope is that others may benefit from mine. I also hope that this will prove to be an easy way to keep friends and family connected to my family as we serve God in Wellington, New Zealand. Thanks for reading my blog!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Josh