Our First Month in the South Island

Selling our house and possessions and travelling nearly 1,000 km’s with four young children was always going to be a big challenge. We have had our share of up’s and down’s recently but we haven’t regretted anything. 

The drive down went smoothly and the children enjoyed sailing on the ferry. The weather was calm enough that no-one threw up (compared to last time where Ethan threw up three times all over me!) – Read about that here

We have been in the South Island for approximately one month now. Here is our recap of the first month starting with Irene’s notes:

From Irene

The hardest part about being here has been living in a space with no working kitchen, bathroom or toilet. We are currently sharing the bathroom and toilet with the other family in their house which is about 50 metres away.

Another difficulty is not being able to have my own washing machine (you mums will understand how this can make life harder). But the family has kindly allowed me to use theirs. The washing line is also another challenge. It is way too high. Little things like this has made everyday life all the more challenging.

The family we are staying with has been very generous and helpful. They are in the process of building us an outhouse about 4 metres away from our front door. It will have a toilet inside, shower, sink and space for a washing machine! I will be so happy when that is done!

At the moment, I am cooking in our campervan with the gas stove. I bought a small benchtop oven the other day so we can have homemade bread again. I definitely feel like we haven’t made it easy for ourselves by moving down. But we do feel a lot of peace. It is hard work but very fulfilling.

What God wants us to do down here

Before we moved, we didn’t know exactly what God wanted us to do down here. Now that we are here, I believe there are two main things for us to focus on:

1. Connect with other homeschooling families and learn more about how to raise a Godly family.
2. Train up more kingdom labourers for God’s harvest.

Homeschooling (from Irene’s notes)

The family we are staying with homeschools, with 5 graduates already (3 more to go). Two weekends ago I attended a local homeschool group planning meeting with about 10 other mums there. This group was started (20 years ago) by a few mums in the area wanting to encourage their children to write more. This group meets fortnightly for about half a day each time. Each child is expected to write a story, which they will read out loud, followed by a shared lunch. Then the children will be expected to play while the adults socialise. I will let you know how it goes!

It has only been a month and we have already learnt so much from the family. This is simply by observing and interacting with them on a day-to-day basis. It has been very humbling for me to discover that their children are smarter and more emotionally stable than me. But what a privilege for us to be here now to learn how we can provide the best environment for our children to thrive in.

Making disciples (from Andrew)

I have started a weekly discipleship course in Christchurch. We cover foundational topics such as repentance, prayer and making disciples. I compiled this course late last year and I am starting to see people’s lives changed because of it. Once the course is finished, I give each person the lesson notes and encourage them to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2).

Finding people of peace

Last Friday I went out on the streets in Christchurch with Richard. I met Richard a few years ago at a kickstart weekend in Hamilton before he moved to Christchurch. I quickly contacted him and organised a time to go out on the streets with him as soon as possible.

While we were on the streets, we saw one man (Mark) who was lying next to the river with his leg heavily bandaged. He said he had been run over by a digger and was waiting for his ride after being in hospital all day. We offered to pray for him and he gratefully accepted.
Richard put his hand on Mark’s ankle and commanded healing in Jesus’ name. After a few seconds the man felt tingling and was able to move his toes. He was amazed by this and we asked him if he could tell us how it just happened.

His response was classic.

“Jesus?”

We shared a bit more about Jesus before his ride showed up. Richard gave him his contact details as he was leaving and we pray that Mark decides to get in touch with us in the future.

More discipleship

I have also started attending a weekly men’s Bible study group. The host is a young man named Sam who is on fire for the things of the Lord. He has some contacts at the Burnham military camp so we drive there once a week. I am discipling him as we drive and as we minister to others in the group.

Last week we read Acts 19:1-6 in our study. In the passage, Paul asks some disciples in Ephesus if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. They replied that they hadn’t so Paul lays hands on them and they speak in tongues.

We asked the other men in the group if they had received the Holy Spirit. One of them (Dan) said he had but didn’t speak in tongues. We asked him if he would like to and he said yes! So, we laid hands on him to receive.

What happened next was very interesting.

Sam and I had two contrasting approaches and they produced two very different outcomes. Sam prayed first. His was a two minute prayer of request. This is when you ask God to do something but you’re not sure whether it will happen. Unsurprisingly nothing happened.

Then I prayed a prayer of command. The difference is that you know it is God’s will, and you command it to take place. When I prayed, we all felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and Dan spoke in tongues.

On the drive home I was able to teach Sam the difference and he was all ears.

Our new home

Lastly, the shell of our tiny home arrived this week. I employed Francois at leworkshop.co.nz to put together the trailer and frame. Francois lives in Napier and was good enough to drive the shell to the South Island and deliver it right to our front door! He even sat down with me for half an hour laying out what steps I needed to take to get the home completed.

I now have my hands full to get the home weathertight before winter. If any of you have the time and energy to help out, I’d love to hear from you! I can’t offer you much in return apart from gratitude and many conversations about God.