Saturday 31 December 2005

Welcome to 2006





Well, it's 2006 and we got here before you did!!!! Auckland has just partied in the new year, and I was there with my trusty camera to get it all on film!! Happy New year from us here in Auckland...

Wednesday 28 December 2005

A New Arrival

Laura and I are excited about our new arrival; Emily Mac arrived on Monday and weighed in at just 50lb!! She is so cute....
She is bringing us much joy, and we're simply loving getting to know her....
More soon...

Sunday 25 December 2005

What is a kiwi christmas like

If you want to know what we did on christmas day; take a look at the movie we made by clicking here.

Saturday 24 December 2005

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everybody!!!

We're having a great christmas day, and was made special by a surpise visit by santa at church. Can you guess who it is? Click here to watch the video!!!

Thursday 22 December 2005

Christmas Is Coming













WOW!!! Only 2 more days until our first New Zealand Christmas and we're very excited. We're now both on holiday for a couple of weeks so will be relaxing and chilling out for a while. As you can see we didn't go for the traditional tree in our apartment, but have gone for something a little more alternative!!!

Merry Christmas....

Monday 19 December 2005



23-26 January06:

A 4 day city mission - Join City Lights to light up Auckland through practical service!

Find out more...

Wednesday 14 December 2005

iPodmania!!!



Well the staff at St Paul's have gone iPod crazy!!! Laura and I recently got up to date and got a 30gig iPod video with an Altec Lansing inMotion iM7 speaker system; It totally kicks butt!!!

We're going to spend the rest of our lives saving for an iMac to go with it!!!

Sunday 11 December 2005

We're going to U2!



Well, in what was a very stressful week for us, we managed to get hold of tickets to see U2 play here in Auckland. It is pretty much the event of the decade here. Both concerts sold out within 90 minutes and the tickets are like gold dust!!! Can't wait!!!

Saturday 10 December 2005

Christmas In The Park

Every year about 200,000 people descend on the Auckland Domain to attend the CocaCola Christmas in the park - it's a huge concert hosted by low rank New Zealand celebrities, and is actually masses of fun!!

I really didn't want to go and was very dubious of the whole idea, but around 50 young people from St Paul's went along together with our picnics and blankets; We sat in the park in our shorts and Ts from about 5 till 11!!! We spent a lot of time eatind drinking and singing.

There were performances of pop songs from various NZ celebs as well as some good old christmas carols. The whole evening finished off with a massive fireworks display. You'll be able to see more photos in the photo section.

Rich got Ordained!!!
















Well, Rich has fastracked it all and got him self fully ordained as a vicar! We went to the service, and can absolutley guarentee it was one of the most boring things in the world!!!!

We've posted some photos and you can view a short video here.

It seemed that it didn't take rich long to get himself back to his normal self!! In the evening about 50 of us from St Paul's went to party in the park and Rich was to be found necking champaigne from the bottle - good lad!!!!

Thursday 1 December 2005

A Weekend In Waiheke















Well, on Friday Laura and I decided to have a weekend away - or a night at least!!!

We jumped on the ferry from Auckland city cetre and headed over to Waiheke.

It's a small Island about 30 minutes away by ferry, and it's worth taking the trip as the pace of life is even slower there than it is in Auckland. We stayed at a very quaint little homestay called Blue Horizon run by a sweet elderly couple in Sandy Bay.

It was very comfortable, and very cheap ($95 for an ensuite B&B) and provided a great base for us to explore the island....

Naturally our exploration didn't get a lot past the local beaches on the first day!! We headed out to Oneroa which is the main town (more like a village!!) We had fish and chips there and sat on the beach and comtemplated life. As we didn't take our car with us, everything was on foot which was great. Aucklanders have to drive everywhere because the public transport is so shocking, so it wa a welcomed break.

On Saturday morning we awoke to a beautiful day, and incredible views from the deck that flowed from our bedroom - we took some photos and then headed to Oneroa to meet our friends Jeremy & Emily. We spent a fair amount of the morning and afternoon on Little Oneroa beach, where we built a sand mermaid, swam in the sea, and ate lunch!!!

Making the most of Jeremys wine expertise, we took an afternoon trip to Stonyridge Vineyard. Stonyridge make New Zealands most expensive red wines, and has a beautiful vineyard that we took a tour around. Jeremy used to work there so we got taken round for free and plied with alcohol :-)

Shortly after our wine tour we jumped on a ferry and returned to Auckland refreshed and relaxed...

Thursday 17 November 2005

Weekend Again!!!

So, were at the end of another week so thought we'd just write another little hello - it's been a mad couple of weeks and weve been incredibly busy. 2 weekends ago we had a first church weekend away; we went away to Waitomo, where there are fantastic glow worm caves; i genuinely just thought that glow worms were those little glow in the dark toys when i was a child!!!

So the weekend was absolutely exhausting, but brilliant - we saw God do lots with the guys from the congregation who all seemed to enjoy themselves. Sadly I was trying to fight off some sort of chest infection so was struggling to sing.

We were exhausted for most of last week, so spent most of it just trying to get our energy back up again. On our day off on Friday we went to a great beach called Muriwai - it was so long, that even after walking down it for an hour, we still couldn't see the end! It was really cool; we took a swim in the sea there and it wasn't actually as cold as we thought it might be; the waves were pretty huge though, so lots of caution was taken.

After church on Sunday we had a great barbecue at a friends house - played cricket in the garden which was great!!! WE LOVE NEW ZEALAND!!!

This week has been very quiet, although Ive been very busy at work writing for a talk for this weekend; I'd appreciate your prayers that it would be great.

Thats all for now - we'll get more photos on soon

Monday 14 November 2005

Hi All,
 
Long time no see! Well christmas is coming quickly and we are very disorganised! The adverts are on the TV with everyone in summer clothes-very strange- also, beach towels are on sale next to the fairy lights and christmas trees, its all a bit much for me to take in, causing me to be a bit home sick- i miss you all!
 
The girls at work are behaving themselves and i'm slowly make new friends outside of church (other nannies etc). Paul is preaching again this Sunday which is very exciting- please pray it will go well! We'll be in touch again soon... 

Wednesday 2 November 2005

Bad dreams....


Well I had my worst possible dream a little over 30 minutes ago! I dreamt that i was getting chased down a path by chickens..... it gets worse; The chickens appeared to subside until suddenly i noticed a whole army of them flying at me! This was enough to drive me from my bed and start the day an hour earlier than normal (5:45).

For those of you who know me well; you will appreciate that for me that really is my worst nightmare - i have a genuine fear of birds - perhaps it's something to do with the pandemic the media is preparing us for!!!

So i thought i'd take this golden opportunity to update you all on what we've been up to. This week has been the eternal week!! We had a great weekend - we had dinner with Rich and Kath on Friday night which was great, and then spent Saturday afternoon down at Mission Bay with a whole load of guys from church - very nice indeed.

This week has been really manic for us both - the church is having a weekend away this weekend which has commanded a lot of my time in preparation; we also are working on our christmas services and have been having the headaches of song choice etc - i have a choir master though which makes it all easier once the decision has been finally made!!!

I'm fighting off illness this week which is frustrating - i'm had quite a sore throat and a bit of a chesty cough. I'm hoping and praying that it wont materialise but we'll see. I'm taking pills galore though to keep it at bay!!!

Sorry this post is rather boring - I'm still fairly traumatised by the birds! We'll post again soon; This weekend we're off to Waitomo for a couple of days; Waitomo has glow worm caves, so expect some fun photos next week.... Love you all
Paul

Thursday 27 October 2005

New things...

2 new things to report - we have finally posted a tour of the house, although the qulity isn't amazing.
We have also posted some new photos which you can look at in the appropriate section!!! Enjoy
Paul & Laura xxx

Wednesday 26 October 2005

Heads and shoulders.....

Rich forwarded this link to me; it is very funny!!!

Sunset


I LOVE New Zealand; Last night after dinner, Laura & I decided to take a drive out to the west coast to watch the sun go down - it was so amazing! We drove out to Bethells again, which is fast turning into a regular, and we spent a couple of hours there. We walked up and down the beach and took in a breath taking sunset whilst talking life and me taking loads of photos (they'll be posted tonight)

We were thinking back to our honeymoon in Devon; We observed lots of guys heading down to Bantham beach at the end of their working days, and we both said how much we would love to be able to drive to the beach at the end of a hard days work. Funnily enough, Sheffield never provided us with an opportunity even remotely like that!

Well, we are living that dream now!!! It is so amazing to head out to the beach at 7pm and it still be warm enough to go barefoot! We are looking forward to a long summer with plenty of surfing after work, plenty of BBQs on the beach, and lots of time spent out doors! It's only spring time here, and already we love it SO much.

So watch out for the photos from last night, and also our weekend with Dan & Emma - theyll be coming very soon.

Catching Up


This weekend we had our first staying guests!! Dan & Emma visited us on route to Christchurch where they will be living for the next couple of years or so. We had a fantastic time with them, although was not keen on the 7am pick up from the airport on Saturday morning; I think i was more worn out than the weary travellers!

So on Saturday, in our best efforts to keep the guys awake we headed into the center of Auckland and took a walk up and down Queen Street - we went up the Sky Tower which was a lot of fun; we hadn't been up during the day so was awesome to see the views from the top.

In the afternoon we took a drive down to Mission Bay for the legendary Movenpick ice cream followed by a walk down to St Heliers for a drink in Kahve - the rest of the day and evening we all spent recovering and were in bed at the early time of 8:30!!!

On Sunday I did church as usual in the morning which was interesting - we had a talk about drug proofing teanage children; something I'm not quite sure i'm ready for!!! We had our lunch with Rich & Kath, and then took a walk through the beautiful domain before heading back to church to lead worship again.

Monday was labour day which meant the first day off of the summer; along with a large crowd we headed off to Bethells Beach at 11 am; It was a stunning day, and we all enjoyed lounging on the beach, playing touch rugby and swimming in the surf, although we did get told off for not swimming even remotely near the flags!!!

On monday evening, we celebrated our day on the beach by eating fish and chips on the wall at Mission Bay, followed by a showing of The Last Samurai at our house - I love that film, and it was filmed about 4 hours away from us hear, so extra support is needed!

Dan & Emma left yesterday morning sadly, but we had a really great time with them here - we loved sharing our house with them, and will no doubt see them again soon; plenty of reasons for us to now go and visit christchurch!

Thursday 13 October 2005

It's Friday....

Well, we've made it through another week, and have woken on our day off to the news that Laura's parents have booked their flights to see us. They come on the 15th Feb and will be staying for a month.

Our 1st staying guests arrive though next Saturday; we're really excited to have Dan & Emma coming to stay for a couple of days, on their way to Christchurch.

So we've been totally exhausted this week - were not really sure why, but it has been. I put it down to the clocks changing 2 weeks ago!!!

We're both off today though, so will get a good chance to have a couple of long sleeps! I'm excited, as today I'm having a new PA system fitted at the church.

Later on today we'll see if we can put a little video tour together for your amusement.

Enough of me; hope to hear from you all soon

Monday 10 October 2005

A night in!

We've had a great weekend having coffee, meals, and fun with friend etc, however Monday has come around ever so quickly again- is it just me or everyone, but I find Monday nights are always the ones where I'm unbelievably tired? I think the end of the week should be like that but its always on a Monday!

Anyway, work is going well and I'm bonding well with Stella and Holly, however today they got me good by vomiting all over me and doing a massive poo, so bit that it leaks out of the nappy all the way down the legs-maybe they feel comfortable in my care!

I'm very excited to have a night in to myself tonight, Paul is at a planning meeting and I was meant to be at another meeting but I decided last minute that a night in alone was more important for my health and sanity! I'm almost fully over my sore throat/chest/ear thing I had last week; thanks for everyone who prayed.

Tuesday 4 October 2005

Illness!!!

Well, laura hasn't been too well at all the last couple of days; She is fighting off a throat infection and it's pretty much knocked her out - she has been slogging on with work regardless though, and is looking forward to the weekend (which starts tomorrow afternoon :-)

I'm praying for her speedy recovery, and it seems to be working to an extent!!! Please have a little prayer for her if you get a moment.

Well this morning i was reflecting on how lucky we are to live over here. Each morning i walk to work with a fantastic view across the sea to Rangitoto island; it really is stunning especially when the sun makes an appearance, which it generally does!

Monday 3 October 2005

What if....

I got thinking today.... what if I had loads of money and could buy loads of things to help me along with my song writing, what would i buy?

Apple Powerbook G4 (17 inch model)
Logic Pro 7 Software
Propellerhead Reason Software
Absynth 3 Software
Rode NT1000 microphone
Apple iPod
Korg Triton Keyboard

So, if you have a few thousand pounds/dollars spare, and want to help me out please let me know!! Alternatively if you know anyone that has fair amounts of excess money that they need to shed, please let them know what i need!!! I'm still praying for miracles!!!

Saturday 1 October 2005

An unexpected blessing

Received our electricity bill in the post this morning and it had a letter accompanying it; it reads:

Dear AECT Beneficiary

The Auckland Energy Consumer Trust (AECT) is pleased to advise that your power account has been credited with your share of dividend income received by the Trust as the majority shareholder of Vector Ltd. The distribution is being made to customers connected to Vector's electricity network within Auckland City, Manakau City and parts of the papakura District on 21 August 2005.

So credited with $180 to our electricity account was a fantastic bonus; that should pay for our power for a couple of months now!!! Doesn't God move in fantastic ways!!!!

Bethells Beach & More


Yesterday we went to the most beautiful beach. Bethells is about 45 minutes druve outside of Auckland on the west coast. It is truly stunning place. It was a reasonably sunny day, so we were able to spend a fair amount of time lying on the beach in our shorts and Ts just basking in the hot sun.

The beach was probably 1km long, and i can honestly say there were probably no more than 10 people on the whole beach. There was one surfer out making the most of some fairly choppy surf which was fun to watch.

At one end of the beach is a huge cave - we walked into it thinking it was just a small entrance, but turned out to be a huge cavern, it was very grand and made us feel very small. Sadly our digital camera batteries had died so was unable to take pics.

Last night we had a lovely fish and chip meal with our friends Kim & Bruce, and watched The Notebook; we were both very moved by the film, it really is great - i reccomend it to anyone who has half an emotional side!!

The film made me feel very lucky to be married to Laura; It is so amazing for us to be on this adventure together; I love her SO much and wouldn't want anyone else here with me.

So, tonight the clocks go forward 1 hour which will make the time difference 12 hours between here and UK. I believe that in a few weeks time the English clocks will change making the time difference 13 hours. It's all going to be very confusing over the coming few weeks.

Wednesday 28 September 2005

iPod


Think i forgot to say... we'd also love an iPod!! We're praying that in also. As we shed all our CD's before we left, we have all our music as MP3. It totally makes sense!!! Pray it in guys!

Kareoke

I decided to keep posting on the blog little and often, as I'm aware that we have only really been writing on big occasions. This way, you'll get a far more balanced representation of our life!!!

So... the sofa and the bed arrived and they are great; Last night I had an extremely comfortable night sleep, and was able to wake up and sit on the sofa in our lounge. For some reason, what used to be normality feels likea total luxury!!!

Last night St Paul's held a karaoke night at our local pub; It was quite a lot of fun although i really don't enjoy getting up and doing karaoke. Never-the-less, the evening was a great success; Every couple of months we have big church socials, and it is great to get people together and chat to lots of different people.

We gave out awards to several acts; Sadly the staff were exempt from prizes. Rich and I closed the evening by murdering My Way!!! I think everyone was glad it was over by that point!!
Thats my news for the day...

PS we bought a cheap toaster last night, so you can cross that off your prayer list!!! We desperately needed one for our latest breakfast craze..... Bagels!

Tuesday 27 September 2005

New Sofa



Well this story is equally as awesome as the bed, car, and countless donations of money!!!!

As you'll probably know, we moved house little over 3 weeks ago, and for all of that time we have been living sofaless and having to sit on the floor. Now, I don't mind sitting on the floor all that much, but when you are having people over for dinner, it's nice to be able to offer them something more comfortable than a toilet seat!!!

Well, Laura's boss gave her a call on Monday (she owns a very very trendy design store called Eon). The shop has recently had a 3 seater sofa on display, and whilst on display one of its arms got scuffed. They fixed the problem, but because of the high standards of the shop and its trenyness, they are unable to sell it there.

So, guttingly they also didn't have enough space to keep the sofa in their store so she asked Laura if we would like to have it for FREE!!!! It's the same as the above photo!

This really is such an incredible blessing for us; This is a sofa that there is no way we could even consider affording - everything is seriously expensive in the shop, so to get it free really is awesome. The sofa arrives this afternoon which we are very excited about. Once we are furnished, we will do another video tour for all those absent!

God is SO good, and we're SO blessed by the generosity of the people here in New Zealand. If you want to continue praying with us, these are the things we're praying for now....

2 Widescreen TVs (one for us, one for Rich & Kath)
Coffee Table
Bedside Tables
Hi-Fi
Book case
Toaster
More money!!!

New Bed!!!

With a couple of different awesome stories of God's provision i thought i would split them up a little. As you may know, when we arrived in Auckland we had to borrow someones bed as we didn't have one, and certainly couldn't afford one!!! Well we have to give this bed back tomorrow as the Lady we borrowed it from is moving and needs it back.

We've been slightly concerned about this over the last couple of weeks, and have spent a fair old amount of time praying about it... On Sunday, someone came up to Laura at church in the morning and told her that she and her husband were going to buy us a bed. Sure enough, that afternoon we got a phone call from them; they were at Farmers (department store) buying us a queen size bed. In the shop, they were told that the bed could take up to 2 weeks to arrive.

Well, It arrived this morning with one day to spare!!! How awesome is God's provision; it's really awesome that he is able to use people to bless us when we need it the most - Praise God!!!

My guitar

So most of you will remember that before we left for New Zealand I arranged myself an endorsement with Avalon Guitars; I came away to Auckland with a beautiful L201 which is a sensational sounding guitar. There was a delay in me receiving the guitar because it had been sent off to Guitar & Bass magazine to be reviewed for their August edition.

So, I was walking along Ponsonby road on Saturday and found myself drift into a specialist magazine shop, and they had the guitar magazine in... And low and behold my beautiful little guitar was on page 30!!!

I took the liberty of visiting their website and purchased the article for download for nostalgia, and so that i could show you all what a beauty i play every week at church. You can download the review by clicking here

Wednesday 21 September 2005

Hello!


Hi everyone, sorry we haven't posted for a while, things have been busy and we've been having lots of fun!

We've just return from the staff retreat in Waiheke, a small island about a 40/50 minute ferry ride from Auckland, and had a really nice couple of days together-getting to know one another and getting an idea of were everyone is going in their roles and ministries in the church. The island was beautiful and we had fun playing rounders, french cricket and rugby on the beach.
Other events include a new worship night Paul has set up called 'seek', which went really well and everyone enjoyed.

My new job is going well although i've been very tired with the early starts (however i also love the early finish as well!). Holly is gorgeous and Stella and myself are getting to know how each other work!

We so value your prayers, support, emails, letters and phone calls-please keep them up! I'm not sure if you know our new details so here goes...

Our new telephone number is: 0046 9 3020491
Our address: 427/184 Symonds Street, Grafton, Auckland, NZ
Hope to hear from you soon! xxx

Monday 5 September 2005

All Blacks Game


I totally forgot when i blogged yesterday to write about the All Blacks game on Saturday. Firstly, It was fantastic to whitness them win; It makes a plesent change to be supporting the winning side after the embarassment of the Lions tour.

However, the NZ'ers just do not know how to support a team when they go to a match. There was pretty much no atmosphere whatsoever. It was a little dissapointing!!! Having been to an english football match, where you leave the stadium drained of all energy(through shouting and singing etc) I was heavily shocked that there was no singing, and relatively little crowd noise at all. We all just sat, very politely watching the 2 greatest rugby teams in the world, battle out the deciding match of the Tri-Nations competition.

Anyway, enough on that; Yesterday we picked up our new car - it's a Mazda Cronos 1.8i Automatic. It's a really great car for us, and we feel totally blessed by being given it! It's awesome how God is working things out here. This morning someone else came up to me and told me that God had told them to give us some money, wrote a cheque there and then and gave it to us!!!

Keep praying in the blessings guys!!! Love you all lots

Sunday 4 September 2005

The Move!!


Well, finally we are in our new flat and boy was it a mission!!! It was a total nightmare; I honestly never thought that moving house to be quite so stressful!! However, we are in our new place and it rocks!! It is warm, cosy, and cool!!

One of the stressful things (although minor) was that our sofas couldn't fit through the door - due to abnormal size feet and the doorway going straight in to a coridor there was no way of manoevering the things in. Needless to say, we finally gave up, and took a well over due trip to the Transfer Station (The Tip) and got rid of the sofas as well as a load of other junk that we have somehow acumalated in the 3 months that we have been here.

We are now SOFAless which is fairly frustrating!! So last night at home we sat down and spent some time praying; amongst other things, we pleaded for 2 things from God

  1. That God would provide us with quality furniture
  2. That God would provide us with a quality car (as we don't own one here, and have no way of being able to afford one.

We are faithful that God will answer prayer 1. This morning though I received a phone call in the office from a member of our congregation - he is getting a company car this afternoon with his job, and would there for like to give us the car that he owns... TODAY!!!! How amazing is that! God is so amazing! We feel blessed at this provision (although as I'm writing, Laura still doesn't know as I haven't been able to contact her!) and are more certain that God will provide every need we have.

Please continue to pray with us over the furniture, we really would love something to sit on!!!

Gotta go now, love you all

Monday 29 August 2005

Another Video

Hey - thought I'd post a little video coverage from the boat trip on Saturday. Enjoy!!!

Click HERE

Things

Well, another action packed week in the house of Kingsley-Smith - we spent Saturday out on a friend from churches boat. When i say boat, it was actually a 45 foot power boat; we went out to a small island called Rukino which is about 15kms off the coast of Auckland. Considering it is the middle of winter the weather was just incredible. I made it into the sea for a swim, and it wasn't that bad at all, although i did have a shortie on. The boat had some canoes also so we spent some time exploring the beautiful coastline and enjoyd lapping up the winter sun.

This week we are preparing ourselves for our next big move - we're going to be moving to the city centre which will be so good as I'll be able to walk to church. This will save us considerable amounts of both time and money. Although we're excited about the move, we feel fairly unsettled at the moment. I think It will be good to really get comfortable there and settle in for the next year or so - it is really very nice.

On saturday I will be heading off to the Eden Park Stadium in Auckland with a freind Jeremy to watch the All Blacks play against Australia - after a narrow victory against the springboks on Saturday night, It's looking like it will be a scorcher of a match; Plus the All Blacks have got a new Haka which I'm pretty excited about seeing live. This will be the 1st time I've seen the All Blacks live, and am sure it will be a fantastic evening.

Laura starts her new job next Monday. She will be looking after 2 girls, Holly and Stella; She is excited, but again big change commands a lot of energy and we're both feeling a little under pressure right now.

So for your amusement I've posted a new set of photo's for you; click here to go to the photo section

Thursday 25 August 2005

New House

Well, here is hot off the press news of the day. We are moving!! This time just across the city to a more central location - we will be moving to a part of Auckland called Grafton. We'll be living on the same road that church is on, but about 15 minutes walk away.

It's a new build block, and we are going to be on the 4th floor in a very nice little 2 bedroom apartment. It was literally completed last week so has all mod cons. We have an impared view of the sky tower and a lovely courtyard. We'll put up some pictures in the following weeks.

It's late over here right now, so I'll be off to bed. Love to you all

Sunday 21 August 2005

A New Home?

Sorry its been a while since our last entry, life has kept us busy and things are all changing on this side of the pond. I (Laura) have been working hard as a nanny and loving it! and therefore have been looking for a permanent nannying job which i have now found.

I begin looking after Stella (2 years) and Holly (3 weeks) in just a couple of weeks in Mt Roskill. I will be sad to say goodbye to the twins, but i really believe God's hand is in this new job. Because of the location of the new job it is no longer possible to stay in our flat in Mission Bay as both of us would be travelling to the city centre (up to a hours drive in rush hour for me to get to work). For the past couple of weeks we have been keeping our eyes and ears to the groud for new places to live in central Auckland.

Apart from the new job and possible move our live is full of chilling out with friends, enjoying the winter sun, and walking along the beach-not a bad life eh?! No really, we are both working as hard as we're playing! Thanks again for all your e-mails, we love recieving them. XXX

Sunday 7 August 2005

Monday!

Hi everyone, Well firstly i would like to congratulate all of my fellow student friends on our graduation which took place just over a week ago. Today i recieved some photos from Anneliese and felt very proud of us all, but also very sad that i couldn't be their to celebrate with you having completed all of that hard work-you all look amazing.

Things here are as exciting as always! My tempory job as a nanny for 2 1/2 year old twins ends in 3 weeks as they are going to nursery and i actually feel quite sad, i'm very fond of them already but know that another job will turn up very soon-in fact i have an interview tomorrow night for another job so watch this space...

Our friends Rich and Kath arrived on Saturday morning which involved a 5am start-something we'll have to get used to i'm sure with the amount of visitors that have promised to come and see us. With the excitment of Rich and Kath arriving we also had to say a sad goodbye to Katie who has been working at the church for quite a while and organised our arrival and made us feel very welcome; shs is moving back to Nelson to be near her family-an emotional weekend!

Other news includes a possible move for us again-not another move accross the world but just to the other side of town this time- to Mount Eden. Our friend Jeremy and Emily live in a block of 12 flats there and it just so happens that one has come free in the past week. The flat is very basic and needs alot of work, but living there would mean we could save over $100 a week; money we could really do with having! We would really apprieciate your prayers that we would be wise in our decision to move and how we spend our money.

Please keep sending the e-mails to me-i'm sorry that i haven't had a chance to reply to all of them but its really great to hear whats going on at home.

Laura xxx

Monday 1 August 2005

This will make you laugh

I found this song couple of weeks ago and it made me laugh so much i thought i should share it with you all also...

Sunday 31 July 2005

The weekend

Well this weekend has been really fantastic - I'll start at the beginning with Friday; we are so loving having Fridays off, but of course this last Friday was special because it was my 25th Birthday - so in celebration, Laura took me out for a fantastic brunch in Mission Bay; It was such a gorgeous day on Friday that we sat up on the balcony of De Fontaine and ate our breakfast whilst basking in the very hot sun, watching the boats out on the water - what could be a better way to start the day.

From there, we made our way over to a fantastic crazy golf course right next to the airport - i feel a great deal of shame in saying that I lost to Laura by 7 shots - my only solice was that we followed crazy golf with 100 balls at the driving range and boy did i perform!!! It was great to hit some balls, although the hire clubs were just totally shocking!!!

So you'd be fooled to think that our day ended here - we went on from the driving range to have a cup of tea and piece of chocolate in Parnell which is another really nice part of town. We popped in on our friend Brent who has a fantastic little Jewellery store - he makes his own stuff and is seriously one of the most talented jewellers in New Zealand, and probably beyond - check him out. Him and his wife Anna have been really fantastic, and we're loving hanging out and getting to know them. Brent is also about to buy a Bow and we're gonna get into a bit of Archery - very excited by that!!!

So the evening started with a burger fuel which i believe i wrote about just a few days ago - i was really dissapointed that i couldn't finish the bastard; it completey defeated me!! We moved on from there to a pool bar where we played several rounds of killer pool. We ended up in a very trendy bar in Parnell, only ruined by the disproportionate volume of the music - it was a massive bar with probably anout 25 peeps in it, but a pumping sound system with a DJ - very surreal. The night had all but ended at midnight when everyone had left - the party got started again though when Brent arrived, shortly followed by Paul Trevor of Chorleywood - we've been having lots of fun with Paul, and love having him around over here.

So then, in recovery we slepped in on Saturday until 1:30 which was blissfull - the last 7 weeks have been utterly exhausting, and non stop. We chilled out for most of the day before heading over to Brent & Anna's for an Indian and DVD - all i can say is, there is nothing like an English Currry; certainly something that the Kiwis haven't mastered!!! Was nice though, just not English!!

So today we had SOAK which went to an absolute storm - we clad the church with coloured mood lighting and set up prayer stations all around the place - a slight logistical task as we still have pews here that don't move - we got it looking pretty good though.
The evening started with a talk by me on the evening, we then had a great time of worship led by me, and then guys went off and did the prayer stations with the band playing in the background - the whole evening went down so well; the response to the evening was actually fairly overwhelming.

A lot of the congregation have come from large pentecostal churches in Auckland where there often isn't space to SOAK in worship - it can tend to be quite prescriptive from what i've worked out, so tonight was really refreshing for people to have 45 minutes to just really get into God and have no songs or hype; people were just so hungry. The potential in the church is so huge, and the temperature is certainly rising. We're so excited to see what God does here - we really are here at the start of somethign quite incredible...

We are really anticipated the arrival of Rich & Kath next weekend - they are going to be such an asset to the team and we can't wait to hang out with them.

So its getting pretty late, so I'll love ya and leave ya

Thursday 28 July 2005

It's My Birthday!!!

Well today, Friday 29th July is my 25th birthday - it feels a little bit like I've cheated and am celebrating early, but that is the joy of being on the other side of the world!!!

This week has been pretty manic. At church we have SOAK on sunday evening which is a service of extended worship - I'm really looking forward to it, but as worship is my bag it's been down to me to organise it!!! It is looking like it should be a really great night though - we're going to do prayer stations which is a whole new concept to people over here as well as some good old fassioned guitar led worship - what i do best!!! Enough of that though, more on my birthday!

We are on our way out in a minute to go and get a brunch down by the waterfront - i expect a full fried breakfast with french toast and maple syrup will be in order. We'll be following that with a game of crazy gold - i'm fairly sure I'll be able to win that but i'll let you know.

Tonight we're off to a burger bar called 'Burger Fuel'; they serve gourmet burgers which are absolutely delicious, and you can actually buy a burger called the bastard - i love it! It happens to be my favorite - there is something quite cool about going up to the counter and demanding a bastard!!!

Anyhow, one of the good things is, that If you have forgotten about my birthday you can blame it on the time difference. There is still time to send that birthday email or drop the $100000 cheque in the post!!! Thanks to those of you who sent birthday cards - much appreciated!!

Love to you all

Tuesday 26 July 2005

Google Earth

Well, for all of you who have broadband and a bit of time to spare I thoroughly recommend you download this piece of software - Google Earth is the most incredible FREE mapping software that allows you to navigate the globe and zoom in to photographic detail of major cities such as New York & London. I particularly like taking a trip to the Grand Canyon!!! You do have to be patient with it when you are loading areas, but it is so worth playing around with it - you'll love it.

Friday 22 July 2005

Tour Our House

Click HERE to take a tour of our house and Mission Bay. If you right click on the link and select the SAVE TARGET AS option, you will be able to save it to your computer. Depending on your internet connection it may be easier to do this...

Athlete Play Auckland


Well last night Athlete played their first ever gig here in Auckland New Zealand - the band headlined at The Studio on Kangarahape Road, and were supported by a band called Opshop. Athlete as ever were absolutely awesome - I think this is the 4th time we've seen them, and once again got the VIP treatment from Tim which meant we could watch the Gig from a very trendy balcony which gave a fantastic viewpoint to take some pretty decent photos. I've put them up on the site so click here to go and have a look.

This morning we took Tim for a good old kiwi brunch on our home turf Mission Bay and then took him up Mount Eden to see the breathtaking views across the city before delivering him back to town for him to fly off to Australia to play there. We've also put photos from Mount Eden on the site.

Sunday 17 July 2005

Good eh?!!

Well this weekend has been pretty action packed. Friday we stayed in which was such a treat!! We pretty much did nothing at all which felt so good - amongst all the business of new jobs etc it was really great just to kick back and relax.

Yesterday (saturday) we had such a blast - we went out to some beaches on the west coast with a friend Rich and his son Bradley (who is very cute). We went to a beach called Piha and one called kerikare (spelling?!!). The latter of the two beaches can be seen if you watch the film 'the piano' - its the really rough beach that they land on. Both beaches were absolutley breath taking, so we thought we'd get some photos for your pleasure. Check out the photo section to have a little look at them.

We also took a little stroll through the Waitakere range, where the views again are absolutley incredible - they are also bundled in there, along with some maori things with incredibly big willies!!

Today was a pretty exciting day for us both, I led worship this morning and preached for the first time ever - I spoke on worship and we then had an extended time of worship as response, which went really well; God is really on the move at St Paul's and it is really exciting to see it growing each week.

This evening, Laura did the prayers and was awesome - she is such a natural up the front, and it will be no time before the preaching / worship Kingsley-Smith combo is unleashed on the world. I may just add, that laura did all of this whilst arranging the collection, communion, and welcome.

I manned the cafe, which wasn't such a good idea - Auckland has a reputation for awesome coffee; I managed to make my coffee some sort of mix between treacle and tar!!!!

So we've just come home from the pub this evening - wetting baby Harry Cobleys head who was born today our time weighing 6lb 14oz we believe. Please correct us if were wrong.

So, we're absolutley loving it here - New Zealand is just the most incredible place; so much culture and heritage packed into such a small place. We'll be glad of visitors, so please do come and say 'hi'

Lots of Love to you all xxxxx

Wednesday 13 July 2005

New Photos

Things here are going amazingly. For a taste of what has been happening over our first month take a look at our photo section - we have just added some new photos from the past couple of weeks. We haven't taken many photos so please bear with us - we will!!!

Monday 27 June 2005

Great Weekend

Well, we had such a blessed weekend, although were thoroughly disapointed with the Lions result on Saturday night - it was a bit of a shocker!!!

On Friday night we celebrated our wedding aniversary in style - a couple from St Paul's paid for us to spend a night in a penthouse suit in a very posh hotel in the centre of Auckland; we were up on the 11th floor so had spectactular views through our 2 story high window. We went out for dinner also, at the revolving restaurant at the top of the sky tower which was awesome - such an incredible meal, and felt so cheap in comparison to what you pay in England!!!

We moved into our flat on Saturday morning and we love it - although we dont have any furniture yet apart from a bed, it is just so awesome to be so close to the sea and a great promenade with awesome coffee houses all over the place.

Sunday went really well, and I am starting to feel a little more settled as the worship leader - we still are in need of more musicians so will be praying them in over the coming months.

Laura has been looking at Jobs today and trying to sort the few possesions in our house - its really incredible how much mess can be made with so little stuff - she will write again soon when she gets the time; we still dont have a computer so its only when she comes into work with me that she can use the computer.

Well i have a meeting to lead worship at, so I'll be off. Please keep in touch; we love receiving your emails - sorry if it takes us a while to respond, it will improve!!!

Monday 20 June 2005

We have a house!!!!

Well, news on the street is that Paul & Laura Kingsley-Smith have a new address again!!! We have just signed our tennancy agreement today, and will be moving into a new flat on Friday. This is going to be our permanent address for the forseable future. The address is...

3/20 Patteson Avenue
Mission Bay
Auckland
New Zealand
Home Phone : 0064 952 17 139

The telephone will be up and running from friday, so please don't try to call before that - also please do bear in mind the huge time difference when calling us; although we'd love to speak to everyone, we'd prefer it to be at sociable hours!!!

Well, the flat is perfect, its a little 2 bedder and is a one minute walk to the beach - if you want proof please check the map by clicking here. If you would like to know more about our new local area, click here.

Things here are going really well - i'm sorry that this is the 1st post I've made since we've been here; I have been pretty busy, and have not had much time to email people or put up blog entries. New Zealand is a fantastic place and we are loving it already.

Please do keep in touch - I'll be more regular in the next week or so.

Love to you all

Friday 17 June 2005

Finding our new home

Well the past few days have been spent searching the web and estate agents trying to find afordable appartments in good areas of the city so we can set up home. We'd seen three places over thurday and friday and felt very disapointed with the results as they were either very tiny, a long way out of the city centre or just horrible! (Although one of the houses was next door to a very well known popstar who comes here for a few weeks of the year!?) To try and make ourselfs more at home in our little tempory flat we went to the warehouse (a bit like wilkinsons, but in a warehouse) and bought a washing basket and some coathangers which helped us loads in clearing the mess in our bedroom and getting rid of the suitcases from the floor and into the cupboard.
We went out again today (Saturday) with friends Kim and Bruce and found this really cute little flat right next to the beach which we fell in love with straight away, the only gutting thing is we have to apply to rent it and wait for the owner to choose an applicant-please all pray that we get it!
Other news is that Esther (my best friend form Somerset) called me this morning to tell me she was engaged and would i be her bridesmaid! As you can imagine- i was VERY excited!!
We are finding everything so cool here, everyone has been amazing and we are overwhelmed with the Kiwi's kind and friendly nature. Well worth a visit for all those needing a good fun holiday!!!

Wednesday 15 June 2005

Our Tempary Address

Just to let everyone know that you can send any mail to us via the church until we get our own place, it is: 28 Symonds Street, Box 6349, Wellesley Street, Auckland, New Zealand.

Sunday 12 June 2005

We've arrived!

Hi everyone, well, we've arrived!

Its Monday afternoon on my birthday and things are so amazing here. We arrived on Friday evening, 12 hours later than we hoped so our journey in total was about 40 hours door to door, however my body has adjusted really well and i slept all the way through the night for the first time last night so all seems to be well. We have been made to feel so welcome here, eating out every day so far, and whilst Paul is working (he started on Saturday afternoon) i've been taken out for coffee or lunch or shopping with some of the girls which is wonderful!

Before i go on I just want to thank everyone for being so great and helping us so much before we left, especially Becca and Adam, and to all those who gave me birthday presents to take with me-it was so nice this morning to open some pressies on the bed!

I can't believe how at home we both feel; although we've only been he two full days, it really feels as if we've been here alot longer already. Everyone has gone out of their way to help us and we've already been lent a car, a tv, a stero, and a sim card to use.

Church was great yesterday; we went to both the morning and evening services and met loads of people and went to the pub after for drinks. In the morning service there were loads of really cute babies so i felt very broody! Talking of babies, Mike the vicar here, and his wife Bex gave birth to a little boy in the early hours of this morning which is very exciting, not only becasue i love babies-but because we also share the same birthday!

New Zealand is beautiful! The weather has been good considering its winter here, today it is sunny and some people are still in shorts although i've opted for the jeans and jumper combo (note there is no need for a coat in winter!) as i often feel a little chilly inside as there is no central heating.

Ok, i'm gonna go now, i'm sorry for all those who we told we would have internet straight away as we don't (i'm using the church computer) so forgive us if our communication is not as regular as we would like to have it. Our postal address is also not the same as the one we posted a few weeks ago but i don't have our new one! We will post you our address and phone number as soon as we get one!

Monday 6 June 2005

New Photos

Well we're finally down in Watford, the penultimate leg of our Journey before flying on Wednesday. We enjoyed a fantastic barbecue at Lauras parents over the weekend and have posted some photos of the evening in the photos section of the website. We hope you enjoy them, and we'll post again soon...

Thursday 2 June 2005

The Gospel According to Chav

Well with so much talk at the moments about Chavs, I find this yesterday and it made me laugh!! Read on

There's this bird called Mary, yeah? She's a virgin. (Wossat then?)

She's not married or nuffink, but she's got this boyfriend, Joe, innit? He's does joinery an' that. Mary lives with him in a crib dahn Nazaref.

One day Mary meets this bloke Gabriel. She's like: "Oo you lookin' at?"

Gabriel just goes: "You've got one up the duff, you have."

Mary's totally gobsmacked. She gives it to him large.

"Stop dissin' me, yeah? I ain't no Kappa-slapper. I never bin wiv no one!"

So Mary goes and sees her cousin Liz, who's six months gone herself.

Liz is largin' it. She's filled with spirits, Bacardi Breezers an' that.

She's like: "Ooright, Mary, I can proper feel me bay-bee in me tummy and I reckon I'm well blessed. What wiv the extra benefits an' that."

Mary goes: "Yeah, s'pose you're right."

Anyway, there's the census y'knaaa? Mary an' Joe ain't got no money so they have to twock a donkey an' go dahn Bethlehem on that.

They get to this pub an' Mary wants to stop, yeah? To have her bay-bee an' that.

But there ain't no room in the inn, innit? So Mary an' Joe break an' enter into this garridge, only it's filled wiv animals. Cahs an' sheep an' that.

Then these geezers turn up, looking proper bling, wiv crowns on their heads. They're like "Respect bay-bee Jesus", an' say they're wise men from the East End.

Joe goes: "If you're so wise, wotchoo doin' with this Frankenstein an' myrrh? Why dincha just bring gold, Adidas an' Burberry?"

It's all abaht to kick off when Gabriel turns up an' sez he's got another message from this Lord geezer. He's like: "The rozzers is coming an' they're killing all the bay-bees. You better nash of to Egypt."

Joe goes: "You must be monged if you think I'm goin' dahn Egypt on a minging donkey."

Gabriel sez: "Suit yerself, pal. But it's your look-aht if you stay."

So they go dahn Egypt till they've stopped killing the first-born an' it's safe an' that. Then Joe an' Mary an' Jesus go back to Nazaref, an' Jesus turns water into lager.

Tuesday 31 May 2005

Hows it going?

Well, things are really firing on all fours now; we had a fantastic bank holiday weekend. On Saturday night we had the party to end all parties - a fantastic disposable barbecue provided the food, of which i ate very little surprisingly!! It was really great to see some friends from Chorleywood, and great to burn off some energy on the dance floor in the Forum!!

Since then, we have been focussing on packing up the house and our suitcases! It turns out we have quite a bit less than we thought, and are doing very well on the space front - it feels quite good to be travelling fairly light, having shed some of our materialism along the way. That said, our suitcases are almost as big as wardrobes!

We said our fairwells down at Philidelphia on Sunday night, and felt really blessed by prayers, and the support of the team down there. We are so sure that this is what God has for us, and are so excited about what he is going to do with us and use us for out there.

With only 3 days left in Sheffield, now is the time to thank everyone from St Thomas church for being great friends and family during mine (and Lauras) time here in Sheffield. We have grown over the years, and learnt so many valuable lessons; I am sure those shapes will come in handy on the other side of the world, but just cant quite remember them! I think there was something to do with a triangle?!!! LOL

We will be keeping in touch of course; issue one of our prayer letter will be circulated very soon.

Love to you all, and God bless
Paul

Wednesday 25 May 2005

Update

Well I have finished my last ever day working for the SOVA Millennium Volunteers. My last job was to upload the website that i have been working on over the last couple of weeks. I'm fairly happy about it, as I am still very new to the whole web design thing. This site being my first effort.

Well, news is that the car sale has fallen through once again so i am afraid its back to the drawing board! Please do keep praying for this, as it is causing a fair amount of anxiety for us. We are sure that God has a plan for this, but are also aware that time is running out fast.

Laura finished her final essay today so she is almost there too - she has to deliver a presentation next thursday, so will spend a couple of days preparing for that.

Just a final reminder that we are having a leaving party on Saturday night. It's a bring and share barbecue at our house, 147 Mulehouse Road, Crookes, Sheffield. Come any time from 6pm onwards and tell anyone you think might be interested. Bring a bottle or meat or some leaves! We hope to see you there...

Tuesday 24 May 2005

Dinner?

A strange request really, but given that we have no pans, plates, cuttlery, or knives (due to being sold or shipped) we are struggling to maintain the healthy lifestyle that we would like. We are in Sheffield until Friday the 3rd of June, and need to be fed until then.

Without sounding massively presumptuous, we would love to be invited out for tea over the next week, so that we can extend our diet beyond things that require none of the aforementioned tools!

We are busy this evening, and of course Saturday nights Barbecue, which of course will be sponsored by paper plates and plastic cuttlery. Other than that, we are available to be invited around for tea any night before we leave.

Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to feed us before we go!! To make a reservation please send us an email!!!

Much Love

Paul!

Monday 23 May 2005

SOFA so good...

Well, the great news is that we might have found a buyer for the car, praise the Lord. The bad news is that the SOFA customers are no longer interested, so we now have 2 beautiful sofas up for grabs. We desperately need to sell them within the next week as they have nowhere to go once we move out.

We are still trusting that God has all of this firmly in hand, and are still overwhelmed at the provision and blessings we are seing in this time.

Please pray, and again ask around if you can think of anyone who is in need of some plum red sofas £300 each or £550 for pair ONO.

Friday 20 May 2005

You gotta have faith, faith, faith!!

I'm so confused. Gods blessing has been awesome over the last couple of weeks, but I just can't understand why we haven't sold our car. I just found out that another car sale has fallen through, so with 18 days to go, we are still no closer to being rid of it.

I know that God has a plan, and I trust that is is to prosper us, but i would just love him to make it a little bit more clear to me. I urge you please to tell all your friends about the sale of our car, so that we can be rid of it ASAP in order to pay off the finance. We really do need God to interveen and do a miracle.

PRAY HARD

Thursday 19 May 2005

So much to do, so little time!

Hi everyone, well as usual, our lives are busy! Weve had non stop social engagements for almost 3 weeks, with the exception of a blissful Monday evening where I lay suffering on the sofa with a cold/flu type bug.

Last Friday was my Uni ball- this was a fantastic evening and I loved every minute of it! Everyone looked gorgeous and it felt like it was really my graduation party with all my mates, as I won’t be able to attend the real thing. Saturday we went to Daisy’s 3rd birthday party, and as a doting godfather, Paul attended but came away saying that we were never going to have parties for our children! I guess he didn’t enjoy the experience of loads of kids running around screaming?!!

We also had Paul’s parents up to stay on Saturday and Sunday; we had a lovely time and we had some really gorgeous meals- a Chinese at the Canton Orchard and a Roast at the Millstone in Hathersage. It was so lovely to see them, but I was a bit gutted I felt so poorly the whole time.

Sunday was an emotional one; we said our final goodbyes to Gareth, Lizzy, Daisy and Lucy who went of to the US this week. It was a reality check for us as we realised how hard it will be to say goodbye to everyone- we’ll miss you all!

This week is just as hectic as the last couple, however Becca and Emma are taking me to the Spa this afternoon which will be both wonderfully relaxing and lots of fun with the girls! Uni is VERY BUSY! Although I’ve finished lectures, my work has a way to go, but hopefully this time next week I’ll have finished all of it and be able to relax fro the first time this year!

We value your prayers and support during this time and we hope to see lots of you in a couple of weeks at our leaving BBQ (May 28th).

Lots of love, Laura xxx

Wednesday 11 May 2005

Our New Address

Well, Gods hand of blessing is still firmly apon us; Further to the financial blessings I mentioned in an earlier post, we were given a gift of £500 on Tuesday - isn't God awesome?

I know for some there will be an issue far greater than moving that is playing on your mind? yes thats right, its Lauras 25th birthday on 13th June, just 3 days after we arrive there. I know that it would really bless her to receive cards on her birthday, so we have gone to great lengths to find out where we will be residing for the 1st couple of weeks of our move.

Katie and St Pauls has been so helpful, and must have been listening in to our prayers because she has found us a place by the beach to stay, with internet access, so we can keep you all in touch. The address is 44 Kohimarama Road, Kohimarama, Auckland, New Zealand. The couple we are staying with even have a car that we can use for our first couple of weeks so that we're not housebound.

If you're like me, you'll want to know exactly where that is, if so click here to see a local map.

Well keep praying for us folk as time runs down; Its such a massive journey for us and a huge step of faith - we literally have no idea what we are going to find when we get there, but are more and more sure that this is Gods plan for us. Please pray that God will use us and bless people around us as we move.

The Pudding :-)

Tuesday 10 May 2005

VISA

Well, just to update you we have now officially been issued our VISAs so we are legal to work in New Zealand for 3 years once we arrive! Wahey :-)

Things are moving forward

Well the weekend was fairly manic, and it has taken a couple of days to recover; I'm sure it was meant to be the other way round!!

Firstly I want to give thanks to God for his provision for us over the last couple of weeks - we have received several generous financial gifts from folk, and we love to see God moving in this way. We heard some really encouraging stories at the Heidi Baker conference on Saturday, and this has once again boosted my faith in God for his provision for all our needs. We are still attempting to sell the car -we're hoping we may have found a buyer, but time will tell!! Please pray that we can be rid of it soon, and pray for about £2000 to cover the costs of the finance (comfotably!)

We received a phone call from NZ immigration at the end of last week, and it looks like we should receive our VISA this week, but maybe next week. The good news though is that we WILL get our VISAs. There was a little thought in us that something would go wrong somewhere, but God has it all in hand.

Well my mind is wondering, and not really on the job in hand. Have a thousand and one things to do today. Ciao

Thursday 5 May 2005

Calling All Music Fans

A great friend of mine, Rob Hill has recently started a band called Airborne and they now have a website. Robs writing is some of the best around in my oppinion and i thoroughly reccomend that you check out their site and listen to the demo.

If you like them. please sign up to their mailing list so that you can find out when they will be playing in your area - it will be a massive encouragement to them i'm sure.

The website to visit is www.airbornemusic.co.uk

Wednesday 4 May 2005

Photos

Well after much deliberation and attempts at posting photos onto the website, our photos section finally works. We only have one album online so far, but more will be appearing over the next couple of days, assuming i get the time. Once we are in NZ we will continue to post new albums to keep you all in touch with what were up to. So then, click here to take your 1st peek at gallery number 1 - our snowboarding holiday last year.
Enjoy!!!

Please note you will need flash player to view the gallery. If you don't have it, or aren't sure if you do or not, please click here to download it from the macromedia site. Its very small and takes minutes to install.

Tuesday 3 May 2005

Bank Holiday Weekend

Well, we’ve had a busy weekend with my (Laura) parents coming to visit on Friday to Sunday. We had a relaxing time together as well as finding time to go into town to buy our luggage for the journey ahead (thanks to Mum and Dad for buying it for us!); a final huddle at Gareth and Lizzy’s also took place on Saturday morning, and then a trip to church and a yummy lunch on Sunday. Monday was also busy with the weekly shop, a lot of visa forms to fill in and a wonderful BBQ with friends in the evening watching the snooker final. I feel thoroughly exhausted!

Other events in my life include the completion of my dissertation (in rough) only minutes ago!! Thank you Lord! As well as the communication with my fellow name bearer Laura Kingsley-Smith who e-mailed me to share her surprise in finding someone else with the same name. Having e-mailed her back I am even more taken back with the news that she lives in New Zealand- even better, Auckland and attends the uni there which I believe is on the same road as St Paul’s church- it’s a very small world we live in!

 

Tuesday 26 April 2005

Pauls Website

A Short note to say that I have started my own website. Recently people have been asking me If they could get their hands on songs that I have written. Having given it much thought, i decided to make a small website where people can download my songs if they want. You can visit the site by clicking here
I haven't put my first song up yet, but there is stuff to read. I hope to have songs up on there within a couple of weeks. Please do email me comments if you have any.
Paul

A Call to prayer

So after that informative post, something a little more deep. We have some fairly major prayer requests for the coming weeks, and would value your support in prayer over the coming months as we prepare to move and settle into a new home and new country. Again, in list format!!!

  1. PRAY FOR THE SALE OF OUR CAR. Citroen C3 1.6 Exclusive - we have this car on finance, and MUST sell it before we leave. We've had adverts in AutoTrader, but had no interest. We really need God to do a miracle. If you know anyone who needs a new car, please tell them about us.
  2. PRAY FOR OUR VISAS. After quite a jumble, we finally got our health checks yesterday, and we are in good health - our police checks also came through and we are both clear, so we are just waiting the results of our blood tests. So nearly there!! Please pray that we have our VISA applications accepted before the 8th June!!!
  3. PRAY FOR OUR HEALTH. I think with so much to do over the next month, we just need to ask Gods protection on our health, that he will keep us fit and healthy so that we can do all we need to.
  4. PRAY FOR PROVISION. Moving to New Zealand is quite a step of faith for us - due to the fairly short notice we simply haven't had the time we would have liked to save and prepare for our move. We really need God to work a miracle as we have to set up home again in NZ but cannot afford to ship over our posessions.
  5. PRAY FOR RELATIONSHIPS. As we leave our friends in the UK, please pray that we God would help us make great friends in New Zealand too. It is a daunting prospect moving to unknown teritory, so we'd appreciate prayer for some great people to befriend us.
  6. PRAY THAT WE SETTLE. It is so important for us to settle into New Zealand and build a real community around us. Please pray for the practical things that will enable us to do this - house, car, time etc.
  7. PRAY FOR LAURAS JOB. As I will be working full time for the church, it is really important for Laura to find work in Auckland so that she can settle easily (and earn some money!!). Ideally Laura would love to work in a school so please pray for an opportunity for this.
  8. PRAY FOR PAULS JOB. Moving to be a worship leader in Auckland is very exciting, but please pray that God will help me to adjust to a different culture and lead people into the presence of God in a fresh and exciting way. Please also pray as I will be starting my post almost immediately once we arrive.
Sorry for the long list, but we appreciate your prayers.
Paul

What we're up to...

Firstly my I appologise for my stupidity - it seems that we are actually here for another 6 weeks, so you're not rid of us that quickly!! For your benefit let me just quickly run you through our schedule for our remaining weeks so you know where to catch us. We are generally free most week nights if you would like to see us then!! So....

29/4 - 31/5 : Lauras parents staying in Sheffield

6/5 - 8/5 : Free weekend in Sheffield (I'm leading worship at Heidi Baker conference with Pete James on Saturday night)

13/5 - 15/5 : Lauras Ball on the Friday, my parents to stay on Saturday night, My final sunday leading worship at Crookes - would love you to be there if you can...

20/5 - 22/5 : Visiting friends and family in Cheltenham

25/5 : My last day at work!!! :-)

27/5 - 30/5 : Weekend in Sheffield. Our leaving party is on the 28th at our house - spread the word.

3/6 : We leave sheffield to spend a couple of days with Lauras family in Bridgwater

4/6 : Leaving party mark 2! In Bridgwater for those in the south west!

5/6: Move on to my parents for our last couple of days in England

8/6: 16:15 - Fly to Auckland via LA (for 4 hours!)

Monday 25 April 2005

Only 5 and a bit weeks

Well reality hit home over the weekend – we’ve been down to my parents for my dads 60th birthday; we had such a fantastic time catching up with family and old friends – a lot of whom we won’t see again before we leave. On the journey down we decided it would be worthwhile just to plan our weekends, and were somewhat surprised to find out that we only have another 5 left!!! So, its all guns blazing for the next couple of weeks!!!

Fortunately on Saturday morning we received our letters from the police stating that neither of us have any criminal convictions (I think we knew that anyway) This morning we are having our medicals – should be fine, or at least we hope!

So, once again a quick reminder that we are planning to have a leaving barbecue at 147 Mulehouse Road on the 28th May, all are invited. Also we are trying to sell our home stuff so please send us an email if you need anything and we’ll come to an arrangement.
Please continue to pray that we sell our car and our SOFAs – it would be a nightmare if they don’t sell; we really need God to intervene.

Tuesday 19 April 2005

Can I see the end?!

Hi everyone, just thought I’d give you all an update on how my work is going as that is all I seem to be doing at the moment! Well, I’ve finished my first and second chapters of my dissertation which is studying the portrayal of Christ in Children’s Bibles. My first chapter, which is pretty much ready to hand in, it is looking at the image of Christ in a range of Bibles which I have accumulated, published over the past 100 years (thank you to everyone who has helped me find these Bibles!). The second chapter has a little more to do to bring it up to standard but I have been studying the character of Christ within these same Bibles, particularly looking at the emotions of Jesus and other such exciting things! The final chapter is now underway and I hope to have finished a rough draft by Friday, ready to enjoy our weekend away in Watford to celebrate Paul’s dad’s 60th birthday!

 

Other events in my life include interviewing nannies last week to replace me at the Heaths (the family I have worked for, for the past 2 years) which was a little bit scary really as I hate making important decisions, but in the end it was easy and I hope this girl enjoys working for the family as much as I have. Our visas have also been on our minds and we would ask everyone to pray that our police checks return to us very soon so that we can actually apply for the visas we need. There is a huge risk that we might not even get them before we fly so some serious prayer is needed! And for those who are praying, I’d like to add a few more requests whilst I’m at it! We need to sell our car for a really great price, also our sofas and other bits and bobs, so please, please pray and ask around for us!

 

Only seven weeks to go now and we’ll be in New Zealand!!!  

Monday 18 April 2005

You are Invited!!!

Hey people. I thought I would just give you a heads up on our plans for the coming 7 weeks, so you know when to catch us before we leave. We are flying from Heathrow Airport on Wednesday 8th June at 16:15, but will be leaving Sheffield on the 3rd June to spend the last few days with our families.

On the 28th May we will be having a leaving party at 147 Mulehouse Road, Crookes, Sheffield from 6pm till late. We're praying for a warm day so that we can have one final barbecue with our friends in England before heading off to the colds of the New Zealand winter. Everyone is invited to come and celebrate with us, as we prepare for our big day on the 8th.

Without sounding presumptious I would like to make a short note about leaving presents. Should anyone want to give us a leaving present, could you please not! We are taking 4 suitcases with us to New Zealand, so are very limited by space. If you would like to bless us, we would love money as we are saving for our luggage and to buy a digital camera so we can keep you all up-to-date with our latest haircuts and tans!!! If you want to do this, please email us and we can give you our bank details.

OK, so thats the news for today - check back soon for Lauras update on her dissertation, and any other useful news. Our photos will be coming back online soon, once i have designed a page for them. The first installment will be a little album of our wedding!!!

Take care people.
Paul

Friday 1 April 2005

Do your bit for the Tsunami Appeal

I just downloaded this track! It only costs £1.50 and the money goes to charity. This track has all your favorite worship leaders on it (except me!!) so listen carefully and make a difference. To purchase the track Click Here!

Wednesday 30 March 2005

Hello from Laura

Hi everyone,

 

Well Paul’s been encouraging me to write a little something on this blog so everyone can see that I am interested in my darling husband’s new adventure! So, here I am. We have just had a wonderfully busy weekend, starting with my sister, Lucy and her family coming to stay. This was truly fantastic and we both love my niece and nephew very much however, them coming to stay for three nights was the best thing that could have happened to me! I am no longer broody and although I do want children one day, not for a very long time!

Exhausted we travelled to Watford and then on to Surry for a family get together on Easter Monday. This was such great fun but arriving home at 1:30am on Tuesday and getting up as normal in the morning well and truly finished me off. I have so much respect for anyone who can survive on little sleep, and for those who don’t have any choice like Lucy!

So now I’m back studying for an essay on the Song of Songs and I’m not getting anywhere fast!!! Does anyone know anything about poetry?!!!

I just want to say great job on this blog thing Paul, your amazing! xxx

New Week

Well after a tiresome weekend I’m back at the grindstone again; Yesterday was an exhausting day – we didn’t arrive home from the family day on Monday until 1:30 AM, after I realised that I did in fact have a 9:30 appointment the following morning; What a pain!!! We did however have a fantastic day on Monday and really loved seeing all the family. Of course we got to answer the usual questions several times over, but that is what family is for! We played some golf though, and I celebrated the final hole with a superb chip in! May and I finished in 3rd place, which we were very happy about.

This week Laura is having a break from her dissertation while she writes another one of her essays; She is currently on target with her work, and is ploughing through it all at a rate of knots – I am very proud of how hard she works, and how well she is doing this year; at the moment she is on course for a 2:1, it must be everything I taught her!!! My job is just plodding along as usual, I still haven’t handed in my notice as I’m waiting for my final contract to come through from NZ – its just a formality, but didn’t want to get caught out.

The order has gone in for the guitar now – I’m very excited that I’ll soon have an Avalon; the guitar I’m getting hasn’t actually been released yet, so it will be hot off the press when I receive it and it will be a real beauty as they all are. Steve, who I have been communicating with, has been really helpful, and I thoroughly recommend their service. I may try and get some strings from d’addario as I’ll need regular string changes to keep the guitar sounding sweet – watch this space!!

As for me, I’ll keep on working here at Millennium Volunteers until the end post is in sight! Have to go now though (breakfast time), so I’ll write something interesting soon.

Paul!

Friday 25 March 2005

UK Passport Office


tours-big

Well, yesterday I received my passport back from the passport office within the 2 week time limit that they set – I was very impressed at this service. I was less impressed however that they had forgotten to put a hyphen in Kingsley-Smith, meaning a thirty minute call to the passport office resulting in having to send the passport back to Durham for them to correct. Apparently they have to allow for human error – how frustrating!!

I need it back by the 4th April so that we can process our VISA applications in time. If we submit them after the 4th April we will have to include a medical which is just such a pain in the backside; with any luck I will get it back in time!

Fingers Crossed!

Thursday 24 March 2005

Avalon Guitars


Well, thanks to the fantastic guys at Avalon Guitars, I will soon be playing one of these. They are fantastic guitars that sound beautiful.

Wednesday 23 March 2005

WOW!!!

Well yesterday was a pretty eventful day in all respects. Firstly i managed to get a handle on the blog, and how to do all the HTML - I gave my self a crash course in HTML, and I'm sure you'll agree that I have'nt done a bad job of getting the site looking like a good one. In the next couple of days I'll figure out how i can link it to my domain name, click here.

Well the 2 great things that happened yesterday were:
1) My cousin was diagnosed with cancer shortly after we go married last june. The doctors said that it was a fairly aggressive form, and the prognosis was fairly bleak. She has completed 6 courses of Chemo, and is now on her 7th. She had a CAT scan last week, and she found out yesterday that she is completely free of all disease - Praise God, how cool is that.

2) Not at all on the same scale, but I received an email last night from the Managing Director of a very large and respected guitar manufacturer; they are keen for me to play their guitars, and have offered me an endoresement deal. This is really exciting for me - i've wanted a new guitar ever since i started playing, and now its finally within reach! The company won't give me free guitars, but hugely discounted which is good enough. Now i need to pray in the money to go out and buy one from them!!

Well, I'm still unsure of what this blog is about, so bear with me until i get into some sort of rhythm - I'll get there in the end. Please do spread the word, I'll do my best at this end!!!
Paul

Tuesday 22 March 2005

All very new to me

Well, this is a first - I never thought i would have a blog, but as Laura and myself are moving to the other side of the world it is a fantastic opportunity to let people know what we're up to and how were getting along.

At present no-one evens knows this address, so I have no idea who will read it - probably someone very random that doesn't know me!!

I hope over the coming months & years we will be able to share with you what God is saying to us, and give you an idea of where you can pray for breakthrough in our lives, as we move as missionaries to Auckland, New Zealand.

To fill you in a little, we are moving to Auckland on June 8th for me to start as Worship Leader at St Paul's Auckland. The church appears to be in its infancy as it was only planted from St Marys, Bryanston Square London a year ago. It is an exciting move, but one that comes with great levels of surrender, sacrifice and faith. I will write more later on, but for now i must go and cook the dinner.