Tuesday/Wednesday

I've always said that you know it is a good vacation when you can't remember what day it is. In our case, that is compounded by the fact that we are on the other end of the International Date Line.

After breakfast at the hotel (which they call a motel here) we had a nice slow morning. We had two meetings, the first of which was pushed later, and the second of which was pushed forward, such that they came close to overlapping. So, we stayed close to the house with both.

We had coffee down the street with the first couple, a missionary couple who target international students in Hamilton. They work through the mission agency that we began pursuing, and so we were glad to get a perspective on that. We were not expecting to get such wisdom from them, though, and they had a lot of good things to say about missions, and about ministry in NZ.

When we got back to the house, the second couple had just arrived and so we went out and had some lunch. We've had some fabulous food here, which comes as a surprise. I will say though, I miss BBQ and Mexican Food (yesterday's chili con carne doesn't count).

This couple works at a dynamic church in Hamilton, and it was good to learn from them. It was also cool because I think God used us to encourage them just as much as they encouraged us. That is always a good feeling.

Someone asked if we were getting a feel for our possible future. It is difficult to say anything specific at this point, but we can say the trip has been invaluable towards that goal. We've heard over and over that the culture here is hard to break into, because on the surface it is very similar to the US, but underneath it is vastly different. We've found that to be true. As for our future, we really need some more reflection time, as a lot of opportunities have been laid before us. The next several months will be key.

We had dinner at the hotel, corned beef and veges, as they spell it here. I'll sign off now, as I have a headache. Could be from the fact that I basically spent the day sipping espresso. Or, it could be from the fact that I got the first glimpse of my Hebrew syllabus. It seems that life goes on even while we are on holiday, and Hebrew doesn't learn itself.

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