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

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

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.

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.

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

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!!!

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!!!

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

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!!!

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.

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!

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...

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.

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

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...

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!

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.

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

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 3^rd 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 28^th).

Lots of love, Laura xxx

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 :-)

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

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

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.

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!

 

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!)

Only 5 and a bit weeks

Well reality hit home over the weekend – we’ve been down to my parents for my dads 60^th 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 28^th 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.