Well sorry for not posting a blog in sometime, but our camcorder broke so we haven't had anything to capture our journey as of late...
Well the past couple of weeks we have had quit a few house guests. It started two weeks ago with two college kids from Fort Collins. They were friends of Sue's sister, Julie. Their names were Patrick and Tyler. They have come over on a one year work/travel permit. They were in Auckland waiting to buy a car so they crashed at our house for two nights. It was great to chat with them and listen to their plans. They plan to live and work in Wellington then travel the South Island, then head back north so hopefully we can hook up before they leave.
We also had some American guests from Inside Out Ministry- Mike Jones, Jeff and Beth Fussner and their 17 year old daughter. We got Mike's name from Sue's sister Kathy who meet Mike's wife at Safeyway in Monument (concidence...I think not?). The Jones are from Colorado(used to work for HP) and Jeff and Beth came over 3 years ago as missionaries in the Wesleyan church. So we got to talk about the spiritual climate in New Zealand which is bleek. Jeff said that over one third of Kiwis do not proclaim any religion, and the hardest group to reach are the white (Bristish decent). However, those immigrating to New Zealand (esp. non-white)are flocking to churches especially the charismatic ones. It was good for Maddi and Andy to hear from Jeff and Beth's daughter about what it has been like for her to move to New Zealand. She said it has been tough, and that it is hard to find "close" friends. Jeff and Beth said the same thing. They have an easier time with immigrants than native Kiwis.
Then Saturday night, we had Matt (my boss) and Mary and thier kids over for a real Kiwi dinner - Lamb Chops! We had a great time and throughly enjoy their company. They are fantastic people and we how to build a strong relationship with them.
We were planning on going to Rangitoto on Sunday, but Andy came down with a stomach bug so I just took Maddi and Ella to the Auckland Domain to see the gardens. Ella loves the flowers. It is hard to get her to not pick them though... We held off going to the musuem until Andy feels better. He is looking forward to Grandma and Pappa coming so they can go to the museum and zoo. Matt told Andy that the museum has a volcano demonstration that rocks the whole room and told him to look for the tuatara at the zoo so while update you all when that happens.
Cheers,
The Evans Fam
