We've been Skyped!!!

A dangerous and mysterious disease? Some viral toxin brought home from New Zealand? Or is this something that Jonah has done to us? None of the preceding are correct. No, it's much more benign, much less insidious, much more...friendly! We've joined to the 5 million plus strong herd of Skypers. Not calling the rest of you Skype users sheep, justus and I guess you...by way of implication. Nevertheless look for us in the vast kingdom of Skypedom, and a hearty Baa-Ram-Ewe to you.

New Zealand

NEW ZEALAND may be a little island nation located next door to antartica but my visit their yielded big opportunities and even larger adventures. I departed from LAX on Thursday May 24th and arrive in Auckland on Saturday May 26th. You lose a day traveling west over the international date line so even though my flight only lasted 12 hours it still took two ‘days’ to get there.
Auckland is New Zealand’s largest and most metropolitan city where over a quarter the nations population lives. I had an eight hour lay over in Auckland so after checking my bags for the next flight I hit the town for breakfast and a look around. Besides being very reminiscent of San Francisco Auckland also held another attraction, the Sky Tower. I paid the fare for a ride to the top of the three hundred foot tall building. From the observation deck unimpeded panoramic views were available of the whole city. As an added adventure you could pay $50- and they would throw you off the top of the building for a free fall of over 200 feet! I didn’t have the money on me for that but spent a bit of time there watching people plunge to earth. (I should mention that these people were hooked up to harnesses and a arrest system so their free fall didn’t end in a sudden stop.
AFTER a morning in Auckland a returned to the airport to board a DeHaviland Dash twin turbo prop for the hour long flight to Napier airport. These little airplanes offer quite a contrast to a wide body airliner like a 747. We bounced an jostled over beautiful country side and mountain scenery and with a 20 knot wide blowing, made an very steep and dramatic cross wind landing.
I was met at the airport by Denys and Elvira Tomeselli who would be my hosts during my stay in New Zealand.
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I met Denys through the bookstore where he buys large quantities of books to stock his own store in New Zealand. Denys and Elvira originally came to New Zealand from South Africa looking to make a new start after growing up, marring and raising a family in South Africa. In due time Denys became the director of Grace To You New Zealand and an elder at Hastings Bible Church. Both of my hosts were great people and made me feel right at home.

I SPENT a day with Denys getting familiar with his operation. Christianity in New Zealand far and wide is very nominal. There is not a large healthy church in either island and so the believers that are in New Zealand usually congregate in small meetings, attend churches that are not very sound or if fortunate to live in one of the few cities were there is a strong church gather there for worshipping our Lord. That being the case the appetite for good books is small but growing. That appetite is fed primarily through the ministry that Denys oversees. It was amazing to walk in his smallish shop and realize that in his store there was probably not another like it around for thousands of miles. It is not an understatement to say that Deny’s bookshop has been individually responsible for introducing hundreds of people to good Christian literature and dozens of churches to valuable resources. It was a great privilage of mine to see this first hand.

I ALSO got to spend a day with Doug Whitfield, the Potato King as he’s known in New Zealand. Doug is an elder at Hastings Bible Church and also a third generation potato farmer with fields all over New Zealand. Denys, knowing I wanted to see the “real New Zealand” arranged for me to spend a day touring the countryside with Doug who proved to be a wealth of knowledge about the history of NZ, its people, culture and the Christian church. Over the course of my day with him I saw so much, the highlights include seeing thousands of sheep, some of which blocked the roads we were traveling as they were being herded about. I also spent about 2 hours crammed in the cab of John Deere tractor, helping Doug spray herbicide over his potato fields. I also had an opportunity to drive about 20 km on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. This day was truly a highlight to my trip since I not only had an extremely knowledgable guide but also a very wise Christian man to talk with. Doug turned 70 about 30 years ago (as he put it) and during his Christian life has managed to keep one foot in the world as a highly respected farmer and the other foot deeply in the church as a leader and elder. I pray that God would gift the church I serve someday with men capable of doing both. By way of example, we had dinner at a roadside truck top named ‘Stag Park’. When we walked into this dimly light truck slop house the conversations were full of coarse jesting and foul language. Doug’s presence in that room was enough to change the topics of conversation and I can witness that the language pretty much cleaned up. All of this without Doug casting a disapproving glance or speaking a word of rebuke. He was just plainly known as a Christian and a man of the book. His testimony was so powerful that his presence was light in the midst of darkness and salt in a world of decay.

AFTER these days of fun and touring it was time to get down to work. The Impact conference started on Friday and ran through Tuesday. This is 5 full days of sermons and workshops, compared to the 3 and a half days of the Shepherds’ Conference. This was an absolutely amazing time with Steve Lawson and Jerry Wragg leading the main sessions. Close to 400 people attended the conference and of this number were represented possibly the vast majority of bible believing and teaching pastors in New Zealand, indicative of the spiritual climate in NZ, there were probable not more than a two dozen pastors present at the conference. Lay leaders and people attending weak churches flock to the conference because it has become known as the event where great biblical preaching will be heard.
Steve Lawson gave 5 very powerful messages on the Beatitudes and the most powerful sermon on 1 Corinthians 15 and the return of the Lord. I do not feel it is an overstatement to say the Sunday morning message on Corinthians must have been what listening to George Whitfield would have been like. I am not charismatic by any stretch of the imagination but if you read about the responses that men and women responded with to the powerful preaching of the Word of God by Jonathan Edwards you would not be all too far from what was experienced that Sunday morning in New Zealand. If you would like a copy of the message please email me and I’ll get one forwarded to you.

AS THE conference winded down I learned that Steve Lawson, Denys and a few other guys would be playing 18 holes of golf the following day. I was tapped on the shoulder to caddy for Denys and on Wendsday I found myself standing at the tee off for the first hole of the golf course caddying for the team of Denys and Steve. Keep in mind now that I have never even set foot on a golf course, I didn’t know the first thing and anything but I was caddying for Steve Lawson who could probably pursue a career in amateure if not professional golfing and Denys who himself was a highly skilled golfer. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for a seminarian to watch and listen as the men who played golf talked about ministry, grumbled about poor shots and dispensed sage advice like, “This is what it’s all about ministry and good golf.’ It was a great bookend to an amazing God orchestrated two weeks in New Zealand.

This is the introductory post in a series of posts I hope to publish in the next few weeks. I could go on for pages but instead will break up what follows this according to topics or subjects that are a little more detailed. It should be remembered that one of the primary purposes of my trip was to look for potential ministry opportunities for after seminary. I met lots of men and heard lots of opportunities but also saw into the very heart of the challenges that the church is facing in New Zealand. These will be the topics of following posts. If you have any questions please feel free to email me or respond to this post and I’ll answer back that way other people can see the questions and their answers. I intend to post 1 new article a week for the next several weeks. I will blog about the challenges facing the church in New Zealand, the sucess of the Hastings/Napier area churches, messages from the conference, the Shepherd's Bible College and contacts that I made while in NZ.

As you read these posts and look at the pictures the intent is to show you how the Lord is working in another part of the world so you can pray with understanding along with Amy and I as we consider future ministry in New Zealand. It is no understatement to say that the fields are white unto harvest but that the workers in that land are few. There are tremendous opportunities and significant challenges in pursuing a call to this land.

All the photos were taken during my time in New Zealand.

Like Father, Like Son

When I was pregnant with Jonah, we lived in Montrose on the corner of a busy intersection where traffic accidents frequently occurred. About once a month, at least, all the neighbors would gather after hearing an accident--first to make sure everyone involved was okay, and then to commence in what was affectionately called, "car-accident fellowship." This would generally last until the emergency responders came, cleaned up the area, and left, and after the tow trucks hauled away the disabled vehicles. Because it was a busy intersection, and because we lived relatively near a hospital, we would hear sirens on a nearly daily basis. Every time Scott heard them, he would spring into action and run to the patio so he could see what kind of emergency vehicle it was and what direction they were headed. I remember thinking to myself how much fun it would be if the baby inside me were a boy so that Scott could have a little companion to "looky-loo" with.
15 months later, we have our little boy who is perhaps equally excited to hear sirens go by as his Daddy. Each time we hear a fire truck, Jonah stops what he is doing, purses his lips into an 'o' shape, and points a finger towards the air as his eyes light up. You can imagine his excitement on this past Saturday, when the local fire stations held their open-house.
I think everyone who was there had a kiddo or two (or more) in tow, but you could tell by looking at the kids that there were two distinct groups of families represented: those that were there with their kids because their kids wanted to be there, and those that were there with their kids as an excuse because they wanted to be there. I think we had a little bit of both. Here are some pictures of our day:

We'll let you know in a few weeks if another little guy is joining the looky-loo club or if the club will welcome its first little girl.

A few pics from Easter

My boys look so handsome all dressed up!

"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Matthew 28:6

"'O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:55,56

We truly have a great hope and a reason to celebrate! Happy Easter!

Easter Traditions

I remember, as a child, looking forward to each holiday or season with its own unique anticpation because of the different traditions that made each one so special. It was not until later that I discovered most people don't celebrate everything that we did--like our annual after-church hunt that usually took place around the first weekend of March as we looked for the 1st signs of spring--or May Day, or Michigan's New Year, to name a few. I appreciated (and still do) that each month provided new opportunities to celebrate together as a family.

As Scott and I dropped the egg-dye and vinegar into the mugs this year in preparation for coloring eggs, we shared our Easter traditions growing up and reflected on the fun times we had together with our families. Whether it was an Easter egg hunt at Scott's grandparents' house with all the cousins or a certain older brother always finding a snail to put on the Peeps in my Easter basket, both of us had the things that we looked forward to (or didn't so much look forward to) about Easter. Now that we have a family of our own, it is fun to be able to start new traditions together with Jonah that he will hopefully look forward to year after year. Here are a few pics of the family traditions we started this year:

The A-380...

Now that's a big 'Ta-Ta!' (For those of you who don't know, 'ta-ta' is Jonah's word for airplane.)

Our most recent family adventure consisted of a trip to LAX to watch the A-380 take off for its return flight to France. It was history-making in the process, as this was its first time ever taking off in Los Angeles, and there were lots of people there to witness the event (from those who were trying to capture a picture of the plane with a cell phone camera to those who had a zoom lens that was more than a foot long. Generally speaking, those there with the biggest cameras also had several handheld radios tuned in to various frequencies that broadcast the exact second the plane would take off, at what speed, at what angle, and at what exact spot it would make its "rotation." As amateur planespotting enthusiasts, we fell somewhere in the middle of these extremes).

Though the historical significance was lost on Jonah (he was equally interested in eating his Cinnamon Toast Crunch because the takeoff time also happened to be his dinnertime), the plane itself was impressive. With its tail reaching 8 stories into the air, it could be seen clear from the opposite end of the airport. It dwarfed the other planes there, as you can see in some of the pics below:

Spring

Yesterday was the first day of spring. I enjoy all the seasons, but here are some things I particularly like about spring:

1) The days get longer! More sunlight and more time outdoors!

2) Picnics at the park.

3) Trees in blossom.

4) The fresh smell in the air.

5) Cheaper prices and more variety in the produce section of the grocery store, which mean more salads and sandwiches for dinner.

6) Even better--buying fresh produce from stands on the side of a country road! We can polish off a whole flat of strawberries with no problem. Yummm

7) Good weather to spend a day at the beach.

8) Newness of life. This year I think we will have a special treat--there is a pair of love birds on our patio. We haven't found their nest yet, but it has to be close by, because they always keep a close eye on us when we pass. Hopefully we'll get to see some Little Chicks at some point this season.

9) Scheming about summer plans. We usually enjoy a few camping trips or road trips during the course of the summer, and the planning usually starts right about this time of year. Not sure what this summer will hold in terms of family trips, but they will probably be day trips to accomodate a toddler and a newborn.

In honor of spring, please enjoy these pictures taken of our recent picnic in the park. We went to Balboa Park to see the cherry trees in bloom. We enjoyed a wonderful chopped steak salad (with lots of fresh produce) and we stayed later than usual because the day was longer.

What we're Reading

In a spoof of a common blog feature variously titled, "what we're reading", "books on the coffee table", "Currently Reading" and so on and so forth we thought we might offer a curious alternative reading list. Instead of learned literary scholars or savvy readers contributing to our list we thought we might consult another well read literary critic. His identity will remain unknown as part of the mystery is figuring out who our contributor is by the contents of his current reading list. Without further ado...

1) Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom- this clever tale of an adacious alphabet adventure is punctuated by the periodic refrain "CHICKA, CHICKA, BOOM BOOM" the rest of lyrical prose is devoted to the childhood struggle of climbing to the top of the tallest tree. I give this book two teeth marks and a large amount of droll

2) The Very Lonely Firefly- this childhood classic, and a classic it is since it falls in line with the Homeric tradition. Our lonely hero seeks out his own but on his way confronts false identities, dangerous deceptions and devious impostures. In the end our very lonely firefly risks gossamer wing and antennae to find an illumonus community of his own. Whenever I read this book the Mill's Brother refrain runs through my mind, "Glow little glow worm, shimmer, shimmer, you got the tail light, glimmer, glimmer....." I also give this book two teeth marks but a smaller amount of drool since the book does contain electronic circuitry.

3) Guess How Much I Love You- not just a rhetorical question, this is the title of well traveled children's book. This tome explores the intimate, elaborate and yet heart warming tale of a mother hare and her baby hare. This is a tale of discovery, for as much as our little rabbit believes he understands his mothers love he is continually exposed to the fact that his mothers love is greater than he can ever conceive. I give this book one tooth (since I only had one when I first read this volume) but also a significant amount of approving droolage.


Next on the book shelf , the Pokey Little Puppy, Sin and Temptation by John Owen and the Complete Works of Mother Goose.

This list compiled and published by

Jonah Bird

-Always in search of a good book.....

It's Been a While

We have not abandoned the blog, just neglected it for awhile. But we thought what better way to jump-start the old blog than by creating a post about a momentous milestone in Bird Nest history! But before we get to that let me take your hand and walk you through the past few months

1) Scott's grandmother, who has suffered a stroke November, died the Thursday before Christmas. 'How sad!" may be your response but we would tell you that nothing better could have happened this Christmas! She has walked with Jesus nearly her entire life and had been anticipating being call home for more than a decade. So when the time came for her to finish her walk on earth she went peacefully, surrounded by loved ones and confidently knowing that the Gospel promise of peace with God and eternal life in His presence was at hand.

2) Apartment managing has been very time consuming (a-la the reason the blog has been neglected). Clogged sink? No problem. Noisy neighbors? I'll send my husband. But there have been numerous blessings.

3) Speaking of blessings since our new apartment is twice the size of our old place, Jonah just up and decided he'd better get mobile if he was to take full advantage of all this floor space. If you didn't catch it, Jonah now moves and even walks well with a little assistance.

4) School started back up for Scott who is taking 7 units (one class on how to prepare and deliver sermons and another on theology). But with the start of the spring semester also comes the arrival of conference season at GCC. The Resolved conference which will draw more than 3,500 attendees takes place the end of February and the good ol' Shepherds Conference takes place a week after that.

But now to the good stuff. Jonah had his first birthday yesterday. We had a nice dinner and then served Jonah his very own B-Day cake. Need I say more? I think the picture will take the lead from here....
Camera shy! But then in the good old days your nudie pic's were consigned to your grandmothers family photo album only to be unveiled again for the dating years. But doesn't every good 1st birthday end in a bath?