Kia Ora!

Greetings from New Zealand! After a nine and a half hour lay over in LAX and then a very long flight across the pacific we landed safely at 5:10 AM on Wednesday morning (that would’ve been about 12:30 PM on Tuesday for those of you in the state).

We spent the first day meeting people, settling into our new home, learning a bit of the local lay out and various other things. Brooke was way more jet-lagged than I was and spent three hours sleeping while I was learning to drive on the left side of the road.

Wednesday night we had dinner with the Bracefield family. Tony Bracefield is the community pastor for Redeemer Church and the Administrator for Grace Theological College. His wife Sue made us a tasty meal and we had a good time getting to know them and three of their four children.


After dinner Brooke went home to get some more sleep and I attended the Northern Presbytery meeting, which lasted three and a half hours. The meeting was very helpful in giving me a broader perspective on the ministry of GPCNZ.

On Thursday Brooke and I spent a few hours discussing some plans for our time here with Andrew Young and Tony Bracefield. We then had lunch with the Peter and Margaret Reynolds (the people who are largely responsible for us being here) and their daughter Rebecca. It was great seeing the Reynolds in their own home. They are very excited to be back in New Zealand and are very excited to start serving people.

Tonight we are having dinner with the Young family and then attending a meeting of GTC’s Board. So overall our first couple of days have been full but good. We are excited to see what God brings about over the next twelve weeks.