Another full and wonderful day here in Kiwiland/New Sheepland/The Land of the Long White Cloud. Nick's induction happened today along with the FRBCNZ meeting. I dropped him off at the church at 9 am then came back to the house where the boys and I spent the morning. We had good fellowship with Michelle and Peter who were down from Christchurch for the meetings and were staying with our hosts for the night also - a full house! The first part of the meeting was for the men only, so we joined in after lunch for the induction service itself. It was a solemn occasion, and Nick answered his charges to shepherd the flock and remain faithful and diligent in his walk with the Lord with "By the grace of God, I do". He is now officially the pastor of Marchwiel Reformed Baptist Church. After the service there was tea and cake and an opportunity to meet many of the new faces who form part of the local church, and brothers and sisters who had flown in or driven down specifically for the meetings. All in all, a wholly blessed event!
Next stop was Burger King for an ice-cream (this photo for you, Sue) which we ate while walking down the road to Caroline Bay.
The bay is one of the major places to visit in Timaru (I hope I'm getting this right, otherwise I'm sure to be corrected by the Timaruvian blog readers) - it's a carnival over Christmas time, and the rest of the year it's a place to walk on the boardwalk, swim in the sea, walk along the beach, play volleyball, or patronise one of several restaurants or coffee shops in the close vicinity. Spent a wonderful afternoon there with Grant, Petru, Erin-Marie, Danica, Jayden, Dinae, Rene, Jesse, Samuel, Oliver, Hannah, and Rich and Bernie. At hungry-time we swung in at the Phillipsies for left-overs from the day, and yacked until nearly 9 pm. This was our last opportunity to see Rich and Bernie so we really wanted to maximise our time with them. It's been so special having old friends here, and the new friends are quickly feeling like old friends too. Perhaps it's just that they're old...
Above is Hannah who belongs to Rene and Bronwyn Kempf. Ren is one of the deacons.
3 comments:
You have turned the first pages in the new chapter of your lives! It sounds as if all 4 Clevelys will fit in very well.
Thanks for the quick updates. It's wonderful to hear all the news so quickly.
I was hoping to call on Friday but don't have a number for where you are. I pray you have a blessed first Sunday and that your house hunting this week goes really well.
Oh my...how long we have waited for this post?! About a year?
We've spent much time praying for the family, the move, the travel but we pray too for Nick in his new position. God bless him and be with him!
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