Kia ora from New Zealand: Week One Update

Hello from New Zealand!  After a long journey, I have finally arrived in this beautiful place, and my time here has been great thus far.
It took about forty hours of travelling to get here.  I flew from Pittsburgh to Houston to Sydney to Christchurch.  My flight out of Pittsburgh was delayed about an hour and twenty minutes due to thunderstorms.  I only had an hour and forty-five minute layover in Houston, so I was unsure throughout my first flight if I would even make my second flight.  However, right before the descent, the flight attendant moved me to an empty seat at the front of the plane, saying that I was one of the only people on the flight who had a chance to make my connection.  So I sprinted to the gate for my second flight, which was luckily in the same terminal, and thankfully made my flight to Sydney.  However, my luggage did not (despite the additional hour for which we sat on the plane after boarding due to a "weight imbalance").  So I continued on my now luggage-less journey with a 12-hour layover in Sydney and a three-hour flight to Christchurch.  I arrived in Christchurch at around 12:50am on Thursday morning (New Zealand time, which is 16 hours ahead of Pittsburgh time), where I was greeted by Paul.  We drove back to the house (about fifteen minutes from the airport) and finally went to sleep.
Before I continue, I should clarify who I am living with.  Luckily, Moana drew me a nice picture that should help.

From left to right is me (I have two mouths apparently), Moana (3 years), Ruby (7 months), "Dada" (Paul), and "Mama" (Robin).  I will be living with them this summer and will be apprenticing to Paul.  Paul works for a parachurch organization called Scripture Union that comes alongside individuals and churches across the world to inspire people to know God.  He serves as the director of camps on the South Island.  Camps here are largely trip-based rather than facility-based.  So rather than having a group of participants come to a camp and stay in cabins/lodges to do adventure activities on a large camp property, "camp" often means going out on trips.  I will be assisting with the winter holiday trips.  Robin is an ordained pastor in the PC(USA) and oversees children's and family ministry here.  They currently live on a farm with alpacas, horses, chickens, donkeys, and other animals.  It feels quite different from the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

Thursday was a pretty relaxing day.  In the morning, I came to pick Moana up from preschool.  Since then, Moana seems to view me as her personal play partner for the winter.  We have played a lot in the past few days.  She particularly enjoys drawing, mostly with pink and purple, and her favorite thing to draw is "homes," which all consist of a box full of people like the drawing above.  I already have a stack of homes that she has made for me, each one with a slight variation.  I feel honored to have made it into most of her home drawings.  She also enjoys playing "home," which usually means that she is the mom and I am the child.  So it is always an eventful time with Moana...

Thursday afternoon, Paul and I worked on bike maintenance, as mountain biking is part of the trips that we will be leading.  I enjoyed being outside for the afternoon in the peculiarly warm New Zealand winter as we worked on the bikes.  We also fed all of the animals.

Friday was by far the highlight of my first week.  We traveled to a place called Kaikoura that is about two hours from Christchurch.  It is stunning.  We scouted the mountain bike trail that we will be using on the trips.  I really enjoyed the day, particularly the long drives each way that consisted of conversing about life and faith.  Good conversation.  Good fellowship.  Good adventuring.  And a spectacular view.  

Yesterday was fairly calm as well.  In the morning, they went to town to attend some sort of children's ballet performance.  I stayed at home and engaged in the first Sabbath morning that I have had in a long time.  It was refreshing to take time to intentionally rest and rejuvenate.  In the afternoon, I went for a run; it felt great to finally run for the first time in a few days.  In the evening, I enjoyed meeting Cole, who also lives with them.  More good conversation.

So far, I have been struck by how much the people I am living with and encountering are a picture of "knowing the times and knowing what to do."  One of the leadership programs at Messiah is named after the tribe of Issachar, which is described in 1 Chronicles as people who "understood the times and knew what Israel should do."  I have since been fascinated with the concept of seeking to understand the times and know what to do.  Some people know the times really well yet do not have much passion or drive for doing.  Others are doers and dreamers yet are not very informed about what is going on in the world.  But Paul and the other people I have met thus far seem to be masters of both.

Interestingly, Cole was talking about the difficulty of this last night.  He described the struggle of being in such an isolated country yet remaining connected to what is going on in the rest of the world.  He articulated the intentionality required to engage with the world, particularly with responding to global needs.  But I am inspired by how in tune people here are when they live with such intentionality.

So I have most definitely seen God at work in the first week of my adventure this summer.  I look forward to seeing what else this adventure holds.  Below are a few pictures.  

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know below!

I have felt so warmly welcomed in New Zealand (though the country has coldly welcomed me with its winter weather)

You can see the mountains in the distance in this view from the living room window

Here is a picture of Kaikoura, where we went mountain biking this week (yes, I found a picture from Google because I was so enthralled by the view that I did not take time to get a picture myself)

Here is Moana; Moana is currently in a rainbow phase

 And Ruby says hello too!