New Zealand - There And Back Again (and a Journey to Hobbiton)

In the last 3 weeks we have overseen the chaos of finishing outreach tasks, packing up belongings, leaving Vanuatu, arriving back in NZ, unpacking, helping with graduation/ceremonies, and saying (too many) "goodbyes".  I've decided for a couple weeks not to write a blog, at least "until the dust settles!"  Now the students have (mostly) returned to their homes, and Dani and I have had time to reflect on this school.

It's always amazing when the teams return and log their activities to know that such a small group of people (28 students, 12 staff) could be used by God in such exciting ways.  Added together there have been 124 people in 4 countries who dedicated themselves to love Jesus, live in the Spirit, and learn to know Father God because of our presence there; there were 132 times when the teams prayed for people resulting in physical healing, or circumstances suddenly changing; there were over 7,000 people directly contacted - talked to, served, given medical treatment, and loved (hopefully with that same unconditional love that Jesus exemplifies to us!)  Our hearts are full as we watch the students gain hope that they can live a life that serves, and improves the lives of others (showing the world what God's heart is like). 

While the last 7 weeks has been really different for us and them, it has been a really beautiful lesson in obedience, knowing that if we (by serving in manual labor, cooking, etc.) are obeying God's direction for us to lift the hearts of the staff in Vanuatu (and give them breathing room enough that they can refresh the original vision they had to come, love, and revive that nation), then we have been successful.  He is still a God that desires "mercy" to the people around us, over "sacrifice" or any measure of our performance (Matt 9:13).

As we enter this week, we are excited to host our Van Andel family starting Friday, starting with taking Andrew & Megan plus our niece and nephew Nicola & Anthony to Hobbiton to visit the Lord of the Rings movie set!  Next week we will all get away to the beach for a few days of family time!

Now that we're in the land of fully functional wi-fi, I'll catch up with a few photos!

Dani and one (just one) of the many MANY delicious nutritious meals
(fittingly a balsamic bean salad - one of our most popular lunches this trip!)
that she made over the last 7 weeks to keep us all operating at our best!

The newest member of the Kirkwood family, Flash, our Toyota Camry 

(which our close friends Kimberly and Marcos gave to us - FREE of charge!!!
- both individually feeling that God had laid it on their hearts to bless us
as we prepare for our baby to come!  Thank you God!)