Snow, Snow, Snow

I spent our 4 1/2 years in America telling everyone that our winters were reasonably mild compared with Kentucky's winters and that it never snows in Wellington, only to be proved wrong on our very first winter home. We have just woken up to our fourth day of freezing rain, hail, snow and strong cold winds. Apparently it is the kind of storm that Wellington has about once every 100 years. Lots of people here have never seen the snow or played in it so it is quite an exciting event. The schools have closed which is unheard of, but the kids don't seem to mind. They have spent two days traveling up to the hills in Upper Hutt for a little snowboarding and snow ball fights with our neighbors.

Update

It has been awhile since we have blogged but to be honest with you not much has been happening. The reason for this has been the unexpected injury to Mark's leg. Today he takes back the crutches that he first got on the 1st of June. Yes, 9 weeks later, he can take them back. He is just able to walk without them and will take about another 4 weeks before he is fully mobile and walking like normal.

The swelling in the calf has gone down but still a band remains, he is in no pain and is doing lots of stretching exercises to strengthen the knee and calf muscles. He has been able to drive now for about three weeks so his regular ministry activities have all begun again.

The Naenae outreach continues to function well. The main focus at this time is gathering around us a team of people with a similar passion for the gospel who are equally desirous to see a strong Bible teaching church established in the Hutt Valley. Would you please pray for this endeavour as it may prove a little slower than we first thought.

All of the family are really good at the moment, lots of learning opportunities and Anna-Marie has just secured her first job, and guess where it is, Kentucky Fried Chicken!!!!!! Yes she has started working at KFC about three minutes drive from our house. Both the girls have got their learners car license now. It does not take long in these years for family dynamics to change somewhat.

Thank you to all who continue to pray for us. We feel your prayers as we are carried along by the Lord in good times and in times of discouragement, so thank you so much. We endeavour to pray for you also and would love to hear from you so as we can pray more specifically for you.

May God richly bless your labours for Him, take care

The Gordon Family

Jarrod's Baptism

What a great privilege it was last Sunday to be involved in this young man's baptism. This first photo is me briefly sharing on what baptism is.Jarrod sharing his testimony with myself and Billy looking on. Jarrod has been involved in the boxing academy in Naenae for a few years. In his testimony he honored the Grahams for their love for him and their patience with him.
This mobile baptismal pool is shared among three different churches. Both Billy and I had the privilege of immersing our new brother in water, symbolizing his new identification with Christ's death, burial, and glorious resurrection.
May this be the first of many!!

Ministry Update

It feels like things have been moving slower in the last few weeks but maybe it has just been Mark who has been moving slower. He has been seeing a physiotherapist for his knee and it is feeling much better. He had an ultrasound last Friday to see what the problem was with his knee but a new and more immediate problem was found - a blood clot in his calf. This can be quite serious so he is on blood thinners and has blood tests several times a week to check his levels. He sees a specialist in a couple of weeks so we will keep you updated.

Last Sunday was an exciting day for us. It was announced at Heretaunga Christian Center, where we are fellowshipping in Upper Hutt, that they will be supporting the church plant. This is great news for us as we feel it is important to have a local church involved. We hope to move on from here and begin a homegroup for people who may be interested in being a part of a plant in Lower Hutt. Later that afternoon was Naenae for Christ. It was a great afternoon. We held a sports day for young people and had a great crowd of kids. Mark was able to preach a gospel message afterwards to the kids and also to our regulars, about 60 people.

Below are a few photos of the afternoon.

Rachel Turns 15

Here's a few photos from Rachel's 15th birthday. She had several friends over and they had a cupcake cooking and decorating competition, watched a movie and slept over.

Rachel has done really well with the move back, although she misses people terribly back in the States. She is enjoying public school and is doing really well in all her subjects, but more importantly is growing in her faith and having many opportunities to share with friends.

She is busy playing both basketball and soccer for the school, doing school work, being involved in church youth group activities and in Naenae for Christ.

We thank God for Rachel, she is a great blessing to us.

A Little Break Away

We have just come home from a wonderful Bible conference at our old church in Hastings, the Impact Bible Conference. It was a fantastic time of fellowship. However Mark spent the conference on crutches. His knee has been very swollen and he has been having to stay of it completely until we can find out why it is so swollen. I'm sure I don't need to tell all who know him how frustrating this is for him.

Several weeks ago now Mark and I were able to go away for a quiet weekend for our wedding anniversary. We stayed in a little quaint town about an hour from where we live called Martinborough. We drove over to the ocean for the day to see a seal colony and walked up to a lighthouse.

20th Wedding Anniversary

I have been married to my wonderful husband for 20 years today. I love him more every day. Being back in New Zealand we were able to have lunch today in the church that we were married in that is now a cafe. God has been so good to us through the good and the bad. His grace is sufficient!

We did not have one wedding photo with us during our time in the States, so this is for all of you who asked to see one.

Mothers Day Outreach

The other Sunday for Mothers Day we had a special outreach for the ladies. We tried to make the afternoon a real treat for them. We had some ladies doing pedicures, manicures, hair, makeup, and we had lots of beautiful clothes to give away. We also had a special afternoon tea for them. It was so exciting to serve these ladies and to be able to get to know them better and to share about the Lord with them. Some were in tears as they received clothes and other items.