The 2011 Men’s Challenge is officially over. 25,000 miles traveled. One day officially lost. Nine presentations in four days. Seventy men met, encouraged, and challenged. I even watched a rugby game (now that’s above and beyond the call of duty!–New Zealand lost to Australia. Devastating.) It’s a lot of time, effort, and money to make [...]
Archive for the ‘New Zealand’ Category
New Zealand 2011 III
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 | No CommentsThe Tree Falls Move One: In the fall of 1993, James Lane was driving his Volkswagen on the backroads of the Oregon coast. It was a sunny day, warm and aglow—a last taste of summer before the long grey winter set in. He was 41, born in the year-of-our-Lord 1952. That same year, a seed [...]
New Zealand 2011 II
Sunday, August 28th, 2011 | No CommentsYesterday, Steve Raines (principle of the South Pacific Bible College and an old friend) showed me some of the highlights of Rotorua. For those of you who don’t know much about New Zealand, Rototura features hot pools, boiling mud baths, and geysers. Ancient Maori settlements nestle close by smoking vents and bubbling crevices. The whole [...]
New Zealand 2011
Saturday, August 27th, 2011 | No CommentsEight months ago, Geoffrey Fairest invited me to the annual “Men’s Challenge”–a nation-wide men’s retreat held in Rotorua, New Zealand (that’s on the North Island for you geography nuts!). Last Tuesday, August 23, I departed for the “land of the long white cloud.” It’s a long arduous trip to New Zealand. Not as long or [...]
Tauranga, New Zealand (IV)
Saturday, June 12th, 2010 | No CommentsMonday We’re getting near the end of this lectureship/reunion. You can tell people are growing weary—too many late night talks … a surfeit of emotions raised by the relief of being together with like-minded ministers. We began the morning with worship. (As always, Ken Young does a great job leading. Thanks Marka for traveling to [...]
Tauranga, New Zealand (III)
Friday, June 11th, 2010 | No CommentsSunday Most American Christians get to enjoy the blessings of larger churches: consistent preaching, strong singing, ministries devoted to children and youth, etc. Even for those of us who belong to small churches, a large church experience is just up the road or available in some city that happens to be the site of our [...]
Tauranga, New Zealand (II)
Thursday, June 10th, 2010 | No CommentsSaturday One of the highlights of my trip was getting to meet, hear about the ministries of, and learn to appreciate some of the graduates of the South Pacific Bible College. “Chris” is working in a church plant near the town of Invercargil, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. “Jab” [...]
Tauranga, New Zealand (I)
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | No CommentsAfter two (very short!) days in Brisbane, I boarded a plane for Auckland, New Zealand. From Auckland I flew to Tauranga (on the North Island of New Zealand, located on the “Bay of Plenty”) to speak at the South Pacific Bible College reunion and lectureship. The South Pacific Bible College (www.spbc.org.nz) has pursued the mission [...]
