In the land of "The Lord of the Rings"

We just returned from New Zealand. What a place! We were very blessed to have been able to spend 4 days on the north island, and 6 days on the south island. Our 4 days in Auckland were spent talking to people who are serving the Lord and spreading the gospel. With all that is happening in our lives, we were really searching to see if God wanted us to join them. So we visited 4 different churches, talked with 3 different pastors, and spent a good amount of time with missionaries from Indiana. So we got to see different ways of doing ministry and the beautiful diversity of the body of Christ.

New Zealand may not be the first place you think of when you think about sending missionaries, but we found out that there actually is a huge need there. At least half of the people there believe in nothing. Turning to God is the last thing on most people's minds, even when their lives fall apart. It was quite sad to realize this.

So, as we drove the countryside on the south island, hardly ever seeing a church building, (if we did it was set up more as a historical building) we dreamed of coming there and creatively starting a church. Using adventure outings to build a church would be a blast, eh? There was also the thought of just joining what God is already doing in Auckland on the north island. As for now though, it is only a good idea, not a God idea.

We did see many locations where different scenes from "The Lord of the Rings" was filmed. It was neat to talk to any of the locals about it. They all were more than welcome to share their LOTR knowledge. We also went horseback riding where they filmed the battle scene of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." We were very blessed.

So the people who know all about the "power of the Ring," need to hear about "His divine power [that] has given us all we need for life and Godliness..." 2 Peter 1:3

We will pray for those there in New Zealand, and we ask for any others to join in praying for them. The country that is so proud of being the location of the movie "The Lord of the Rings" needs our prayers and needs workers.