Booth Broadcast

The drought has broken, the once in 100 year rains have come three times in two weeks and our shingle drive has been flooded several times plus a small landslide which dumped lovely Bombay red clay on pristine shingle. I’ve had to don the leaking raincoat, step into water logged gumbies and get into shovelling red clay away. But hey as they say, the farmers are loving the weather.

We had a good time at the thanksgiving evening sharing our heart with some of the prayer team. Yvonne and I are so depended on your prayers to enable us to do the ministry.

We are gradually getting people to sign up for the leadership course later in the year but we need significant prayer to get the numbers up and get some who have said they are coming to finally send in their paper work.

I mentioned last time that I will be working with Greenlane Christian Fellowship. That has happened. GCF is a large Pentecostal church and it a privilege to work with their pastoral team. I took 14 of them for a morning on delegation. They were a very engaging group with wide age range and experience. The second day was with the senior pastor and six of his key leaders. Again the day was very good with some excellent questions and discussions as they worked through the material related to how they describe their work and roles. The feedback was tremendous with their teaching pastor saying that he felt this was very timely in helping them build unity and sort out the direction they all should be going. I am hoping to have some more times with their team.

I have just returned from Indianapolis where the International Training Alliance Council meetings were held. The first two days were a summit meeting with the CEO, Director of Operations, Trainer Developer, the outgoing Chairman, the new Chairman and me. It was interesting that ITA are in the same situation as Caleb, in that ITA are considering how we reframe what we do in the light of changing cultures and pressure on mission. On my suggestion we spent time looking at the ‘why’ of what ITA does and how that focus will enable us to work through significant change effectively. I should have kept my mouth shut as it’s ended up with me doing more work. I have been tasked with looking at how to implement a coaching component to follow up of participants from the 12 day leadership course. However, it’s a plus as it’s something I’m thinking through for Caleb anyway.

The second half of the week was for the council meetings. The guys on the council are directors of mission agencies and it’s a thrill to be able to spend time with them and engaging with them inside and outside the meetings. As we were leaving, we got news that a dear friend and missionary colleague John King had died suddenly from pancreatic cancer. John was an amazing friend and Christian brother. I treasure the times we served together both here in NZ and in various locations overseas. We often roomed together and had wide ranging and deep discussions. I am grateful for his input into my life and the way he infused me with his infectious joy in the Lord. Thank you Laura for being the runner beside him pouring your life into serving the Lord too.

Coming up

Yvonne Hannah and I head off next week to visit pastors in Dunedin to try to get some onto the Leadership course. We then drive down or is it across to Queenstown to take a version of the Bridge Builders course with LBK Presbyterian Church. It is their annual church camp. I must say they have chosen a nice venue. I expect we shall suffer in such a situation. We will get a couple of days off over Easter then its continuing working toward the Leadership course. There is a possibility that a couple of pastors may come from Myanmar. Please pray for this to happen as we work with their leaders toward a course in their country.

Oh the Home front

My Mum turned 90 and we are celebrating this weekend. My young brother and his family arrive from UK for the event. Please continue to pray for my Dad and Mum as they cope with Dad’s congestive heart failure restrictions.

Rachel and Jonny still wait for the Library hierarchy to work through the restructuring and the need for all librarians to reapply for their jobs. It is an unsettling time for them.

With the weather bombs Auckland has had, the dams are getting filled with silt and this is causing trouble for Jeremy in his role with Water Care. He is working long hours on five projects. Sakura’s Mum had an operation because of cancer which seems to have gone well. Please pray for the family as they go through this time.

Tim and Aimee are doing well. Tim has started renovating part of his home and I’m proud of how he has taken on the building challenge. It looks great. The trick will be getting him out here to help me.

Hannah continues to have two times a week with her support worker. There is a hint that the government is cutting back in this area and we may lose Rebecca. Please pray that this doesn’t happen as it is valuable for Hannah and for us. Rebecca is an amazing young lady and now a good friend for Hannah.
Yvonne is very busy with the BnB and doing well. We got the opportunity to pray with a group of Aussies who had received news of a tragic death in their family back home. I was able to share scripture with them and Yvonne and I prayed for them. One of the group commented that their booking our place was meant to be. One of the men who was pretty anti Christian came up to me after, gave me a hug and said “thank you that was very helpful”. Praise the Lord for these opportunities.

I’m still waiting for an MRI on my partly blocked femoral artery. Be nice if the radiology people got it done soon. I’m walking better but it’s still a challenge.

We are grateful for your prayers and support. Team work is so vital for us in this ministry especially with the nature of work alongside the Church changing. The desperate need for leaders to grow in skills is vital even when they don’t recognise it. So thank you for input into our lives and this ministry.

Blessings
Rex, Yvonne, Rachel, Jonny, Jeremy, Sakura, Tim, Aimee and Hannah.