New Zealand: Lush, green, warm,
pastures and “bush” (forest).
New year: 2010… a year dedicated to
furthering God’s kingdom and following His call.
New day: I crossed the International
Date Line and am a day ahead.
New home: my 2-man tent for my stuff
and me.
New foods: Weet-Bix, a cereal that is
like a cross between cornflakes and shredded wheat, corn beef, mixed bean cold
salad.
New teammate: Amanda who is 22 years
old and from Little Rock, AR. She has big beautiful eyes and a contagious joy!
New destination possibility for March:
we may be going to the Philippines instead of Malaysia.
New accent: I’d love to pick up on it a
bit while I’m here. I’ve noticed one major difference in their pronunciation.
The vowel sounds are all short and it makes some words feel like mush in my
mouth. It seems very different then I am used to in terms of enunciations, but
I’m really enjoying it.
New climate: it is a little bit chilly
at night and the climate changes somewhat dramatically during the day when a cloud
blocks the intense warmth of the sun. Most of the day, however, is warm and
pleasant, not humid, as I had expected. I am told the O-Zone here is thin and my burnt forehead and shoulders
agree.
New people: I had heard about the Maori
people who are indigenous to New Zealand, but the other day I met some Kiwi…
not kiwifruit or kiwi the bird, but Kiwi the people group. Their fair skin and
light hair remind me a bit of Swedish appearance, but they also seem to have
ruggedness about them. I look forward to meeting more Kiwi and learning more
about their culture.
New alarm clock: BIRDS (or at least
what I hope is just birds) wake me up every morning with the sun.
New ministry: On Saturday, our team
will begin our first month’s ministry. We will be in Matamata, a rural setting,
helping to run a summer camp. We expect to be running activities with kids,
doing odd jobs around camp and doing some camp counseling for 7-12 year old
kids. I’m excited and looking forward to getting started.
