Taken In

Finally updated, sorry for the lateness of this again!

We spent a few lovely days with Rob and Liz Cleland in Whakatane, a precious time when we were able to chat about life and God and were really blessed by their wisdom and love. We were able to share with their home group about life in Southampton, and they were encouraged that what they thought was a dying church scene in Britain is in fact alive and well. They shared some amazing words of encouragement for us and we left feeling revived and full of purpose. We prayed about what to do next, as we had two and a half months ahead and were realising that the times we had enjoyed the most and the places we had connected with the most were where we’d formed meaningful relationships with the people there. We’d heard of Spreydon Baptist Church, in Christchurch, at Soul Survivor in the UK during the summer, as one of its pastors Ants Watt had been speaking there about living intentionally in community and it had really stirred something in our hearts when we’d heard him speak. We intended then to head for Spreydon and offer to help where help was needed in their community. We emailed Spreydon to warn them we were coming!

We then headed down through the following places and I’ll sum it up for you (read Adam’s blog for more detail, but for catching up purposes I’ll be brief):

Rotorua – Other-worldly, big milky green lake, steam vents, bubbling mud pools, nice town, smelly sulphur.
Taupo – Iron Man New Zealand (big crowds for that bit), lovely free riverside camping, Huka Falls, scary mountain-biking, Baptist Church lovely people.
Wellington – Beautiful buildings, narrow streets, museums, poetry recital, trams, pier jumping, baptisms and sunrise swims in cold sea, pretty surrounds.
Ferry to Picton – Marlborough Sounds, secret inlets, salmon farms, isolated houses only accessible by boat.
Picton and Linkwater – Stayed with Rob’s sister Sharon on their hillside farm, stunning views from newly built farmhouse.
Kaikoura – Vineyards on the way, German hitchhiker, whales, hail storm, seals, Irish pub, quilts, beaches and mountains

On the 13th March we arrived in Christchurch, where we have been for the past two months. We’ve been blessed beyond what we could have hoped or dreamed by the amazing people here and by the God who knows what we need when we need it. As we drove into Christchurch on that first day we prayed that we would find a good place to park our car for the night that wasn’t too far out of the city. During our trip we would often arrive in a place just before sunset and struggle to find a place to stay near public toilets that were still open, then set up our air mattress and cook in the dark. We were very aware that freedom camping had been getting a bad name from the selfish few who will poo and dump their rubbish wherever is convenient for them, so wanted to make sure we were somewhere where we were allowed to be! We drove to the seaside area of Sumner and within minutes we had found a suitable site where other campers had parked. After a little while we were approached by a lady with a clipboard, and I assumed she was coming to tell us off. Instead she gave us a $10 petrol voucher for filling in a questionnaire on freedom camping and told us we were not breaking any laws, and that the local council wanted to improve relations between campers and local residents!

The next morning we went to Spreydon Baptist Church (SBC from now on) and prayed that we would meet the right people and that God would have control of the situation. We walked into the church a few minutes early and sat down, leaving one space next to the aisle and another space between us and the next person. I then felt compelled to move up next to that person and make an effort to talk to her, as if I couldn’t start with something that simple we would have problems! This however left 2 empty seats next to us which were occupied by the lovely Sandra and Richard Helliwell. They introduced themselved immediately and we chatted for a bit before the service, explaining what brought us to Christchurch and our travel plans. Afterwards we continued to chat and they invited us for lunch. On the way they stopped at the bakery for some bread, and while Richard popped to the shop, Sandra said they’d been chatting in their car and wondered if we’d like to stay for a few nights!! We said yes please! We also had our friend, the wonderful Hannah Ford coming to stay, so said that we would see what her plans were before saying definitely yes. They then said, “oh we have another spare room, if she doesn’t have accommodation booked she should stay here”! Wow. The Helliwell’s newly custom built house is in the area of Cashmere, up on the hill looking over Christchurch and the mountains beyond, stunning views, better than any hostel or B&B!! To top it off they have a hot tub on the balcony!!! We didn’t expect even a lunch invitation and we ended up with this! God is good!!
We went to the evening service at Spreydon where we met Ants, who already knew we were coming as the email we’d sent to the Spreydon Admin people had been forwarded to him, sweet! We arranged to meet him the next day, after picking up Hannah from the airport.

So our week with Hannah was great, we picked her up at the airport, not able to find her at first as she’d turned blonde! She was delighted to meet the Helliwells and as astounded as we were that they would let three strangers stay in their house, no questions asked, no strings attached! Again, to summarise, our week with Hannah involved the following:

Christchurch – meeting Ants at the Addington Coffee Co-op (when he asked “so what are you doing here??”), wandering around the Arts Centre and Botanical Gardens then dinner with S&R.
Lyttleton and Diamond Harbour – Beautiful sunny day, little ferry to tiny harbour and L&P in Godley House, big ice-creams, cool eclectic shops in Lyttleton, dinner with Ants and Sandy Watt and some of the Addington Community.
Christchurch – Haircuts for the Browns, Truly Scrumptious (little shop and tea rooms near city centre), Art Gallery, New Brighton Pier, milkshakes by the beach.
Hanmer Springs – pretty town, great views from Conical Hill, a couple of hours in the natural spa pools, and yummy curry for dinner at the Raj Mahal.
Akaroa – stop for lunch in Little River, beautiful drive, Le Race (cycle race from CC to Akaroa), galleries, pretty harbour, pizzas at the Bicycle Thief (in CC).

The next chapter will follow on swiftly from this one, when I will endeavour to explain how our next 2 months unfolded…

Advertisement