Lij+Kris

Our little preacher-man

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 19:16:00 +0000

video-2010-04-25-08-38-00.3gp (2909 KB)

We arrived at church early this morning...and Caden had a few words of encouragement. Enjoy!

Posted via email from Peters' 2010 Furlough

Slight Technical Error

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:18:00 +0000

I visited our blog today only to discover that our two most recent posts were never registered. So, if you get this update via email or feed-reader make sure that you visit our actual webpage to see these two previously new posts (they may not be automatically sent to you).

Kia Ora (w/o the video) - #7

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:09:00 +0000

Kia Ora Everyone!

As you may remember me saying in an earlier posting, Kristen, Caden and I are now on furlough. Every two years we have a planned trip to the States to visit family, friends and supporting congregations and that time has finally come.

Currently we are carting around the country visiting family, but the time is soon approaching where we'll begin making presentations at many of our supporting congregations, hoping also to raise some more support for our work. Yes, there'll be a little work and stress involved in getting ready for these presentations, but the good news is that we love what we do...and we love sharing that with everyone! And though we do look forward to the presentations, we are for now soaking in as much time with family as possible, and to that we are thankful for the opportunity to see them all again!

I don't have much of an update on our work in New Zealand, but you can for sure keep our teammates in your prayers while we are away. We miss them and New Zealand already, and definitely look forward to reuniting with them.

While on furlough we won't be posting much to this site. So....For those of you interested....If you would like to stay up to date with our travels while on furlough just send an email to Elijahpeters@live.com with your name included and I'll start giving you the updates!

We'd love to hear from you, so drop us a line from time to time as well!

Love you all! Have a great day!

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

....And We're Off!

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:09:00 +0000

Kia Ora!

In just a few short hours we will be embarking upon our Furlough! Please include these travels in your daily prayers for us. I'm pretty sure that we'll make it through alive, though we'll be severely tested I presume by two separate customs screenings, three different countries, five airports, seven security screenings and 31-hours of traveling with a wiggling one-year old!

Okay, okay...okay....these tests are far from the worst one could endure, but nevertheless we would greatly appreciate your prayers on our behalf...as well as for our entire round-trip of furloughing.

Since I most likely won't be posting to this blog while we are out of country let me encourage you to write me in an email (elijahpeters@live.com) and let me know that you would like to be added to our email Prayer Team. From there I will be sending out the occasional email update from our trip.

Once we return here I'll resume our Kia Ora updates as usual (I might even be able to bring back the weekly videos...but shhhhhh on for now ).

Thanks everyone!

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

2 Days to Launch

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 11:08:00 +0000

...and the packing begins.

Posted via email from Peters' 2010 Furlough

Kia Ora (w/o the video) - #6

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:34:00 +0000

Kia Ora Everyone!!!

How is everything going with all of you? We are well and enjoying the last couple weeks of the summer. Last year's summer felt a bit more toasty than this year's, so we are definitely thankful for the change. And considering that our houses turn into saunas in the summer heat here we are always thankful for a little relief.

I'm also curious whether or not it counts in New Zealand....the whole "in like a lion, out like a lamb" saying regarding March. Because, If so, April may not be a pleasant month with how tame March has been. I hope it doesn't apply to ministry either!

Speaking of....

February saw our 2010 kick-off to both the Ice Box and Parents' Night Out. Being the short month that it is (no offense to February) it is really amazing that we made it through alive. So much planning, so many activities.....in so little time. By the way, have you ever met someone named February? If so, I'm curious to know if they feel like there's never enough time to get anything done, because that's how I felt all month.

As I've mentioned already this month in a previous post, the Ice Box started up quite smoothly. In fact, we were preparing for a little setback, but have been pleasantly surprised day after day by the turnout and impact we're been able to have.

The setback I'm referring to was the possibility we would have to start over from scratch with the Ice Box. We had to make a tough decision over the summer to cut the Ice Box down in size to about a third of what it used to be. In other words, if we were seeing between 120-175 students each event before (which we were), we were now going to be limiting the amount to between 40 and 60 students. Several factors came into play in making this decision, but ultimately it just made sense. Realistically speaking, there was just no way we could adequately minister to and mentor effectively any more teenagers than that.

The good news in this is that as we have trimmed this program down in size, the quality has increased. And now, after a full month of operation in this school year, we are building quite a bit of momentum and really growing healthy relationships with the students. Every event we're reminded of how powerful even just a few hours of dedicated time each week can be for a teenager. If it were up to us though, we'd give every student in our community quality time like this, but unfortunately we can only do and give so much. Our prayer is that in time this program can give birth to a few student leaders who will in turn invest in the lives of their peers, resulting in a much greater impact in the community.

Parents' Night Out also saw a nice kick-off to the year. Though we had preparations for about 50 people to attend, we were nevertheless overjoyed with the 30 that did (by the way, great work on the BBQ Justin Cherry!!!).

This kick-off event was unique in that we invited all of the parents to join us. Normally, the plan is to have parents take the night off while we watch their kids, but we took a short intermission on that for a greater purpose. Beyond providing an open night for parents to spend however they wish, our other main goal for this program includes fostering healthier families in the community through networking and resourcing. Our hope is that PNO becomes more than just a childcare service, but a full-on familycare service...and what better way than through building a strong network of support around your family.

And what else can be said of February? Well, in this month we laid the ground work to move into a facility* as a church. February also marks the 2-year anniversary of our arrival in New Zealand. Additionally, we used February to reunite with a lot of friends who had been traveling during the summer. All of this in addition to the day to day operations of following Christ and loving our family. Like I said, it has been a very packed month.

There's much more to be said of our work, so if ever you have a question or want to know more feel free to email me any time. Thanks again for all of your prayers. We covet each and every one of them.

Until next time,

Lij & Kris (and Caden TOO!)

Don't forget...

...if you want to receive our private prayer updates, you need to email me your name and email address for confirmation. This not only lets me know who would like to receive our prayer updates, but it also is a yearly update of my records for all of our partners.

For those of you who have already confirmed this information to me this year thank you very much for your ongoing interest, support and prayers for us in this work. We are happy to be working along side you in this global mission of sharing Christ. Our prayers are equally with you as you serve the Lord!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

Kia Ora (w/o the video) - #5

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:38:00 +0000

Kia Ora!

Life and ministry in Auckland have been slowly picking up speed over the last couple of weeks and now we're in full stride. It is really an exciting time of year, because everything spinning around in our heads over the summer, everything we've evaluated and improved upon from the prior year, finally gets to see the light of day. Since New Zealand tends to shut down, or enter stand-by mode, during the summer it is usually best to wait until February before expending much organized ministry effort. Many congregations here apply the same principle, hibernating all but the most basic and broad ministries until after the summer holidays and travelings cease.

As I mentioned in our last Kia Ora update, we dedicated our final week of the summer holiday to meeting together as a team for a Mission Retreat. Not only did this help us to refocus and revision our missional energies for the work ahead, but it also served to reunify our hearts and minds for the mission.

There is a HUGE difference between walking and running. Personally, I'd rather run (it's just way....more...cooler, right?), but let's face it, I probably shouldn't. Have you ever seen how stressed I look when I run? I mean, I scare all of the neighborhood children away at the sound of my dreadful wheezing and panting (I could never make it as a ninja). I sound like a balloon that hasn't been tied off. I can't even run from my door to the street without taking a breather. Darth Vader has nothing on me (and can you imagine him running? Wow!). Yet, despite this awkward setback, I still run because I like getting to places fast; I like achieving goals (I even like the exercise).

Let's be objective for a moment though, there is a time for running and there is a time for walking (regardless of whether you like one or not). If you walked everywhere you'd really get to soak in the sights and details of the journey (but you wouldn't get many places). If you ran everywhere you'd definitely accomplish a lot (but you might not remember the journey). In my limited experience, getting places is just as important as the journey itself.

As a team we are learning to balance our walking and running - the mission depends on it. This past retreat was and is a vital part of our work here, as it gives us added perspective for the road ahead. There are goals in need of being achieved, a journey in need of being experienced, and setting aside this time to evaluate where we've come from and where we're going is essential for deciding what to do this day.

Every next step in life relies upon your vision, if you can't see where you're going you most certainly won't get there (and as followers of Christ we have more than just our eyes to see with). What's more, if you can't remember where you've come from your next step is likely in the wrong direction. With these basic principles in mind we seek to structure our retreats in such a way as to mold our walk and run of this journey in a God-honoring sort of way.

When we arrived back in Auckland we hit the ground running and got back into the swing of things. The first major ministry we kicked-off with was the Ice Box. Our first week with the Ice Box turned out really well, and it looks to be carrying a lot of momentum from last year. We had to make a few necessary adjustments to this program to better serve the long-term goal of this work, and at this time each of those changes seems to be flowing smoothly. Keep this ministry in your prayers. We're really growing close to several of the students and it is our hope that we may adequately confront the challenges they face in the community and help them to write a better story for their lives.

Pray also for the weekly Devo/Game Night that takes place with several of the youth from the Ice Box. The students that come to this do so solely because they want to be a part of it, so pray that this might be a spiritually and relationally fruitful time for their lives.

We're also starting up Parents' Night Out (PNO) again. In just a few short days we'll be hosting our first event of the year, and it is our prayer that we can effectively serve the families that join us. We realize the challenges that many families face in our community, and it is our desire to play a formative part in strengthening them for the task.

To date we've connected with families by watching their kids while the parents get an evening to themselves (we call it Parentcare). In the future we'd like to offer many more services which take a more holistic approach to meeting the needs of the family. Pray that these doors and opportunities may become available to us and that we may impact the community for Christ.

In just two weeks' time we will be celebrating our 2-year anniversary of living and working here in New Zealand. Praise God along with us for his grace and mercies shown us throughout our time here. There have been no shortage of challenges in this work, but with these challenges has come strengthening. Pray that we may continue to be equipped for the task God has called us to and that his name be praised through our lives.

Pray also for Kristen, Caden and me as we make plans to furlough in the States. I'll provide more details in the coming weeks, but for now just pray that this trip may be fruitful to us in getting to see our family, getting some much needed rest, as well as raising additional funds to keep the work going here.

Have a great day everyone! Love you all!

- Elijah, Kristen and Caden!

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

Peters Family Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:52:00 +0000

Per special request...

Here are a few photos to catch all of you up on the family. Hopefully we'll soon be able to return to filming weekly videos, but in the meantime, I hope these will suffice!

Love you all!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

Kia Ora (w/o the video) - #4

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:22:00 +0000

Kia Ora Everyone,

What a week we have had...two trips to the Airport, tons of administrative duties, and topping it off...we got to celebrate Kristen's Birthday!

As for the love of my life...she is the best helpmate I could ever dream of, and waking up next to her every day reminds me daily of God's grace and kindness. Celebrating her birthday is more than just marking a special day, it's a day to honor God for how he works through those around us to complete his work within us. Kristen has been that for me and so much more since I first met her. Daily I'm thankful for the gift of Kristen in my life!

Now, I'll confess something to you....I am not really all that good at showing people how much I appreciate them, it tends to get sloppy...and throwing a birthday celebration is one of the many potentially awkward situations I find myself in. I tend to take too much upon myself, I'm not that creative, and my jokes are pretty lame. So, considering my limitations, I felt that the best route to take would be to get as MANY people together as I possibly could to share in celebrating Kristen's Birthday. That way, if I mess things up ("when" i mess things up) she'll be surrounded by so many others that love her that she will not even notice! (haha).

When the dust settled, we had 21-guests over to our house for the biggest BBQ I have ever served as head chef for. It was a lot of fun to see so many of our friends there, and I know Kristen loved every minute of it. It felt like we were completely surrounded with family, and in a way, that's exactly who we were surrounded with - our Kiwi family!

Then, to finish up the wonderful evening, I brought out the German Chocolate Cake I had laboriously prepared. I made her this cake even though I knew there was no possible way of dethroning Kristen's mom on the cake-tasting charts, but just the fact that it resembled a cake when I was through making it was all Kristen needed to know that I really do love her!

The next day Kristen and I visited the Auckland Aquarium for the first time. Following that we did some ferrying around the Waitemata Harbour, and even stopped off on Rangitoto Island (a dormant volcano island) and climbed to the top. The view was amazing, the journey together was so much fun (though quite the workout carrying Caden) and the weather couldn't have been better! We ended the day with a delicious dinner of pizza and potato wedges at a small cafe in town. It was definitely a birthday to remember (and it wasn't even my birthday!!!).

Prayer Requests...

Be praying for this upcoming year of ministry. 2010 is beginning with a lot of excitement, but a lot of uncertainty as well. Like never before we're looking to walk by faith in spreading the good news of Jesus, we're committing ourselves to prayer-down the walls of fear and doubt in our community, and we're petitioning our father in heaven to raise up from our midst a city whose foundation is set on Christ.

Continue praying for the Ely's as they are in the middle of applying for a new work visa. Pray that the work may not be hindered by this process. Pray that it is a smooth matter and that the Ely's will be able to continue on with the work set before them.

Pray for our 2010 Retreat which is only a day away now. Pray that we are strengthened during this time, and that we grow in unity and passion for the work that lies ahead.

Pray also for the AIMers that are preparing to join us in this work very soon. Pray that they can raise all of the support they need, and that their transition will be a smooth one.

- - -

For many of you I see that you've had some crazy weather pass through your area (snow and ice I hear). Our prayers are with you and those perhaps ill-affected by it.

Thanks everyone!

- Elijah (and Kristen & Caden)

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

Kia Ora (w/o the video) - #3

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:51:00 +0000

Kia Ora Everyone!

A BIG-Warm-Kiwi-Summer 'Hello' from Lij, Kris and Caden! We hope this update finds you all doing well...and keeping warm yourselves.

We're all doing well, only a little bit of exhaustion, but otherwise very peachy. It feels like this week has flown by at the speed of light (and by that I mean we flew through the week at light-speed).

...of course if that really were true, and we flew through the week at 186,000 miles per second, then we most certainly would have accomplished more as well, since traveling at the speed of light suspends your perspective of time. In that event we would have had an eternity to get to get everything done in the week (which would have been neato)!

Oh yeah, that also reminds me, if we really were traveling at the aforementioned speed, we most DEFINITELY would not be the slightest bit "exhausted" either, because in order to travel that fast, we'd need infinite energy anyways (unless we were photons and didn't really have much mass). Just think what you could do if you had infinite energy??? You could eat Krispy Kreme every day!

Wow, how did I get to this point. Moving along...

Being the zippy week that it was there were a lot of exciting things to experience...not least being time spent with friends...and lots of TexMex. It also happened to be the week that our neighbors welcomed their little 1.75lbs baby into the world. When you consider all of the major concerns surrounding this pregnancy (only 25-weeks along), we praise God for a healthy delivery, a healthy Mum, and very a healthy Kenzie Jhames Nixon O'Brien. Definitely keep this family in your prayers, they are going through a lot of adjusting, and it's only the beginning. Pray fervently for Kenzie as well, she still has a long way to go, and as of yet we have no word on any brain and/or developmental damage she may have. Pray also that we may find some helpful ways to serve them in this time of need. Thanks on that!

As a side note, I am in need of updating my email records for all of you. If you could please, send me your name and current email address (unless you have already done so in 2010) to Elijahpeters@live.com, it would be greatly appreciated. Once confirmed, I will add you to our private news and prayer request email group, for all the information I can't post on this blog. Even if you receive our Kia Ora updates via email I still need you to confirm your email address. Thanks!

On to this week's TOP 5 Stories

5. So long, Jana!
Adventures In Missions (or AIM) will always hold a special place in our hearts. I'm coming up on my 9-year anniversary of entering the program, and Kristen her 8th (can't believe it has been so long). Over the years we have not only stayed in touch with some of our fellow classmates, but we have remained close to the program as well and have friends in each of the subsequent classes to our own. This week one of the New Zealand Aimers (Jana) from the 2007 class said her final farewells to the church and city of her 21-month missionary apprenticeship. Located in Tauranga, with the Otumoetai Church of Christ, we got to see Jana several times over the past two years, and to see her depart was definitely bittersweet. We're excited about what lies ahead for her, excited to have another "Missionary Ambassador" for New Zealand on the loose, but also sad to see another incredible worker for the Lord depart from our midst. Jana flew out of Tauranga, but had a 6-hour layover in Auckland, so we got to see her and hug her neck one last time before she took off. We are so blessed to know her and glad to have rubbed shoulders along side her in the Kingdom work here in New Zealand.

4. Summer BBQ
One of our ex-Starbucks friends (because now she is our Elderly Care Worker friend) came over for dinner this week. With the year-end holidays, in addition to her new job, seeing Kym has become something of a rarity this past month. That all changed with a few hamburgers on the barbie and a free evening to enjoy with her. Kristen, Caden and I love Kym a lot and do what we can to bless her life every chance we get, for not only is she so deserving, but she is an incredible blessing to us as well. (p.s. she even brought us some super cool zoological books, Caden is going to LOVE them)

3. Diner redux
Last week I shared how our dinner with Nick, Bex and Noah (oh, and I forgot to mention Nick's sister Tenaya, too) was subverted by a dodgy engine starter. This week, it is a problem no more (in fact, they even got a new-er car). No longer confined to the house we finally got our dinner date in for Mexicali...only this time we had more friends join with us. Though the food was super great (emphasis on 'super' AND 'great'), the time that we spent with these couples was even better! We strive to live in such a way among others that our very presence with them serves not only as good news for their lives, but that Jesus being active within us is the best news they've ever seen. Our prayer is that we may live a life that inspires hope, draws others to truth, and ultimately connects everyone even closer with God for eternity.

2. God*Stories
I got a new book this week, "God*Stories - Explorations in the Gospel of God," by Andrew Wilson. Let me just say...I am really digging this book. So far it has been an incredible reminder about how the entire Bible is the Gospel. We say things like "God is Love" and "Jesus saves," but that's like reducing the story of Beauty and the Beast to "Belle unlocked the curse on the Beast-Prince and lived happily every after with him." Those statements are true, but they mean very little without the whole story. Yes, God is love, but only "love" as defined by His story told in the Bible. Yes, Jesus saves, but he is the Savior as only outlined by the full context of fallen man as described...in....the Bible.

Every page of the Bible is good news, because every page is a part of The Story. What the world needs isn't more one-liners about God, one-liners about following Jesus, what the world needs is the ENTIRE word of God, in other words: The Whole Story. Can you fit it on a t-shirt? No. Will it take some time to cover? Oh yeah! Is it worth it? More than you'll ever know! For it is only when we find ourselves fully in His story that we truly connect with the Good News of God, anything less is...well, just that...less than the Gospel.

1. Video Skyping
We are so spoiled as missionaries these days. I'll be the first to admit that God has really blessed our mission-age with some incredible and *affordable* technologies. One of those is Skype.
So, I'm sitting in my office the other day, and one after another, in the course of 4-hours, I had not one, not two, but three different video calls via Skype. If you're not familiar with Skype, all you need to know about it is that it allows people all over the world to connect both audibly and visually with people anywhere they have an internet connection. So, on this particular day I had one conversation with a good friend of mine, David, who is currently living in Ukraine. Following that I got to talk with the three Aimers currently in Lubbock that are preparing to move here to Auckland to work with us. After that Caden and I got to visit with my parents in Sydney. And all of this from the comfort of my office, for free (minus the cost of internet). It has also been helpful for Caden...introducing him to his big loving family scattered all across the world.
We are so thankful for technologies like this, because sometimes it's those little things (like being able to see each other while you talk) that makes all the difference when you miss someone you love. Thanks God!

...and that's our update for today! Love you all! Thanks for your prayer and enduring support!

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

Kia Ora (w/o the video) - #2

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:36:00 +0000

Kia Ora everyone!

We're now safe and sound on the less chaotic side of the Holidays. It is the time of year where if you wanted to experience what living in a Metropolitan Ghost City was like you must only leave the cozy little confines of your house. It's almost like everyone fled an approaching zombie invasion here in Auckland or something. We didn't get the memo.

Anyways....2010 is picking up right where 2009 ended (funny how that works), and is shaping up to be a very pivotal year in our ministry here. Now, more than ever we need your prayers for this work and for the spreading of the Gospel here in New Zealand.

Oh, and just a reminder, I still need all of our supporters out there to confirm to me their contact details. If you're one of our financial or prayer supporters: Refer to this posting for directions.

Top 5 of the Week:

Thought we'd try something new in our updates...a "Kia Ora - Top 5 of the Week." This will give us a chance to share a few extra highlights which may not otherwise make the cut under the realm of "New Zealand Mission News" on a normal basis. Hope you enjoy!

5. Lunch with Nick and Bex (and lil'Noah)
(by Elijah) What started out as a lunch date to Mexicali Fresh (the indisputably best Mexican food joint in all of NZ...hands down!!!) quickly turned into an exploration into the Colonel's Secret Recipe. We thought a simple battery jump-start would do, but that apparently doesn't work for greased-over starters. Down and out a car meant we weren't going out together either, so we, the men, found a local KFC for some take-away action. Later, after stuffing ourselves silly, enjoying each other's company around the table, we proceeded to challenge one another in a not-so-friendly game of Monopoly Deal. We enjoy every moment with these guys and are thankful to God we have them as friends in our lives.

4. Morgan's Late New Zealand Birthday
(by Elijah) While the Ely's were in the States Morgan celebrated her birthday. Unfortunate for Morgan though, her birthday didn't really count until she had one in New Zealand. So Kristen and Jennifer went to work and pieced together one super-fun gift basket for Mo. Not one, not two, not three....but TWENTY-SIX gifts were piled into that basket, which made for a whole lot of fun. Oh, and in case you're wondering...we stopped at twenty-six gifts to mark her "26th Birthday," Yay!

3. Skyping with Andrew
(by Elijah) One of my friends with whom I can never get enough time with is Andrew. Over the past few years our friendship has really grown, going from basic acquaintances, to long lost relatives (yeah, turns out we are remotely related, he's something like a grand-cousin I think), to great buddies (see the progression there). As it would turn out, last year he took a position with the Otumoetai Church of Christ in Tauranga, NZ and ever since we have looked for opportunities to connect if either was nearby (kind of like ages ago when Andrew got to star Kia Ora Episode #25). This time, however, we decided to Skype. I can't say enough about how much Andrew has been a blessing to me and I thank God for friends like him. He is a great servant of the Lord here, and I pray a blessing upon him and the work he is called to.

2. Weekly Prayer with Olivia
(by Kristen) I have this wonderful friend named Olivia Nelson. We have known each other now for 7-1/2 years, meeting first when we were in AIM together. Somewhere in that time, we decided to meet together to pray once a week. It was a really great time for both of us, and when we were forced to stop because of our relocating around the world (Olivia and her husband are on a mission team working in Kharkov, Ukriane) we both mentioned in our rare conversations with each other how much we missed it. Well, a couple of months ago we decided we weren't just going to talk about how much we missed it anymore, we were going to start it up again. With the wonderful technology of Skype, I get to wake up every Wednesday morning and talk with my friend who is nearly half way around the world getting ready for bed. I can't even begin to express how much these times mean to me in this little paragraph, but I can say I love every minute of it, and it's one of the highlights of my week! (You can read about Olivia and her husband, David, in their blog, here.)

1. Korin in Hospital
(by Kristen) Our poor neighbor, Korin, has been in and out of hospital now for a month. She has been having complications with her pregnancy, and returned home twice only to have to be taken back to hospital two days later. This time she is in until the baby comes (which could be as long as 15 weeks!) She's not one to like to sit still, but she is doing pretty well, reading lots of books and entertaining heaps of guests! Every time we make it up there to visit her she seems to be in high spirits and is always ooing and ahing at Caden. (Probably mostly because she misses being around her little girl so much.) Even though we're the ones going to cheer her up, we can't help but leave just a little happier ourselves, with her positive attitude rubbing off on us. Though she is doing better, she and her family could still use your prayers.

Be on the lookout for more Top 5's in the coming weeks.

Love you all! Thanks for your support!

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

Updating Our Records

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:01:00 +0000

Hello Everyone! Welcome to 2010! We hope you all have had wonderful holidays with loved ones. Maybe some of you are still traveling around, and if so, we pray a blessing of safety upon your travels.

Speaking of traveling, we didn't do any this year...and it has made for a very relaxing past couple of weeks for us. Sure, we missed being with family, enjoying all of our various holiday traditions together, but the rest couldn't have come at a better time, and we're thankful for the short break.

Now, as for the purpose of this post...

Our contact records for all of you are in need of some tidying up.

If you are a Prayer Supporter of this work and of our family, would you please send me an email with your name, city and email address of choice included in the body of the message. Confirming this information will enable me to send out the occasional private prayer request and update regarding our work.

If you are a Financial Supporter of this work (past or present), would you please send us, in addition to your name and email address of choice, your mailing address and a phone number.

Also, to update your own records, you can email me at Elijahpeters@live.com.

It's 2010 now, which means we've known some of you for quite a long time now. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your ongoing support of our family and of the work God has called us to here in New Zealannd. And to our more recent supporters, we can't thank you enough for choosing to partner with us, investing in our lives as you are.

May this new year bring a greater partnership between us all, a greater submission to God's work in our lives, and a greater hope to the people around us.

Posted via email from Lij+Kris

Parents' Night Out - Christmas Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:09:00 +0000

We had an incredible Parents' Night Out this past month, our last one for the year in fact, and what better way to end the year than on a positive note!

As you know, PNO is a service to families with kids, and we've been offering this service once a month for six months now. One of the ongoing struggles for parents nowadays is balancing the needs of the family. Due to economic struggles and high cost of living here in Auckland many two-parent homes have been forced to find full-time employment for both just to make ends meet. Any time off from work is spent almost entirely parenting, trying to make the most of what little time they have with their kids. There are even several single-parent families in which the strain is even greater.

Our goal from day one has been to give these hard working parents a night off to themselves, to address and minister to some of their own needs, and to provide a safe and positive place for their kids to enjoy. It's not that we want to keep these great kids away from their parents, thats the very thing they don't get enough of. What we're hoping to achieve through this service is to provide the occasional outlet for parents to go on a date, recharge a little, or spend some time with other adult friends. By addressing some of their own needs, we're helping parents to be better parents, to be better fathers and mothers, to lead healthier families.

It's the same principle as on commercial air flights, when you're instructed to put on your own low air-pressure breathing apparatus first, before assisting others with theirs. Jesus speaks of a similar principle in Matthew 7 when he teaches us to first do for ourselves what we intend for others. And Paul echoes a similar principles in 1 Corinthians 9 when he shares how he disciplines his life so as not to be disqualified for the prize he is leading others towards.

PNO is all about serving families, but it is not without it's rewards for those of us volunteering at this monthly event. Each month we are rewarded with an average of 25 smiling faces of children excited to join us for the night. We're rewarded by the kind words and expressions of appreciation by the parents. We're rewarded by the community support for the vision to help families. And occasionally, we're even rewarded like this:

(Click here to view the slideshow if you do not see it above)

With the spirit of PNO in mind, we will be taking the month of January off as volunteers, and will resume in February with a big 2010 Kickoff! For all of you behind us out there, thanks again for your support, you help us keep this service going!

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:45:00 +0000

I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas, and for those of you ill-affected by the cold, snowy weather in the States that we heard blew through, then our hope is that the New Years will go quite smoothly for you, especially if you're traveling.

How was our Christmas in NZ? Well...
We missed the taste of hot drinks on a cold Christmasy day.

We missed all of the Christmas lights. The wastefully ELABORATE ones!

We missed the family traditions. Most of them silly to outsiders.

We missed seeing the snow for Christmas. Watching it fall to the earth.

We missed watching the football games. But only if the Bengals won.

We missed all the home cooking.

We missed all of the smells too.

We missed scraping ice off the car windows.

I'm lying about that one.

We missed getting to see our family.

We missed all of the loving embraces that say 'you are loved'.

What did we get instead? Well...
We got to be Mr. and Mrs. Claus for the first time!

We got to see our little Caden open his first gifts.

We were adopted by a family for a little Christmas lunch.

We drove around with the windows down, enjoying the sunny 80-degree day.

We surrounded ourselves with friends.

We had a BBQ dinner (in American that means we 'grilled out').

We got a little sun burned.

We made some new traditions.

We honored our wonderful families by opening our family to others.

We had a Skype Christmas, streaming from Australia and the States.

We enjoyed reminiscing the past year filled with our handsome little boy.

We celebrated having each other.

We went to bed exhausted!

- -

As with all great memories, they come via great experiences in life. They're moments in time captured by excited little neurons traveling through our cerebral cortex and synaptic network. They're moments that sparked our emotions, that heightened our senses. They're moments that touched our spirits, our hearts, down to the core of our souls. Our memories are so much more than simple experiences though, they're actually a little part of us, a part of who we are.

You have those memories too, don't you. A special tradition. A game. An activity. A favourite meeting place. A certain dish. An rare experience. A particularly close friend or family member. You have a whole host of memories tied to the fabric of your being. And when these memories press upon your conscience mind it's like you can almost feel them again.

And just as it is for many of you, we have countless memories that are were all forged around the holidays growing up. By them we are reminded that we are so incredibly blessed by God, for in these memories are living testimonies of God's involvement in our lives.

Sure, we miss those things which made our memories of memorable. We missed not being with our family. We missed the various traditions we became so accustomed to. But one thing we were not about to miss was the opportunity to make new memories, to fully enjoy our holidays here.

Celebrating the past is only fully achieved when living a life that makes great history -- that is, living a story that is worth remembering.

Love you all! I hope you all have wonderful stories to tell from your holidays! God bless!

Kia Ora (w/o the video) - 1#

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:12:00 +0000

Kia Ora Everyone!

Lij, Kris and Caden sending you all our love and support from NZ. Thank you all so very much for being in our lives.

Welcome to our Kia Ora without the Video. Without a computer now to create our weekly videos, I am writing instead. Below is an update which you would otherwise see and hear about if we had a video to post. Enjoy!

Computer

Yes. As you may have seen by now, we didn't have a Kia Ora video this past week. Unfortunately, our main work computer will no longer be assisting us in this mission (nor assisting anything else for that matter) because the motherboard went out on it. We do have a backup computer (actually a Netbook), and it has been handy for checking email and skyping, but it is not very ideal at all for video and photo editing (actually, incapable of doing so), or even any large amount of word processing, since it has a micro-sized keyboard and screen (I'm getting a headache as I type squinting at this thing). At least we still have a way of getting in touch with all of you that doesn't require us traveling back and forth between home and costly Internet Cafes. Praise God for that (those days were tough to coordinate).

It will be important that we get a suitable computer replacement in the near future (capable of processing and rendering video smoothly, creating brochures and pamphlets, and editing graphics and photos). Until then however, we'll have to ask all of you for a rain check and a little patience regarding our weekly Kia Ora video episodes. Once we have another computer sorted we can resume those updates, but not any sooner as our netbook is unable to handle the rendering of our weekly videos, much less the other various uses our deceased computer was serving in this mission. Please get a hold of me if you can assist us in this area, it would serve both our partnership with you, as well as the missional work we use the computer often for. And a big THANK YOU in advance!

Amy's last week

This past week was our sole AIMer's final week with us. It was a difficult week to transition through, because her departure marked the end of eight blessing-filled months of having AIMers with us (she is the third of three we had over the year). They were all great servants to us and to this work we have been called to. We will always look back upon their time with us with great thanks and appreciation to God.

Over the last week the evidence of Amy's impact here couldn't have been more apparent, as friends from all over came to give her their farewell wishes; friends she has connected with in some very eternal ways. Throughout her time here she was a servant to all of the love of Christ, and by that love the friendships she forged were founded upon ever-lasting principles.

It was tough not only saying goodbye to Amy personally for Kristen and me, it was tough seeing her say goodbye to everyone else here as well. She brought so much to New Zealand, to our team and to our family; she will always be remembered for that. We wish her all the best as she transitions along into the work God has for her next. Please keep her in your prayers as she travels. Remember also our work here, because she (along with our previous AIMers) left a void of service that is most certainly in need of being filled in their absence.

Amy and Logan

Before Amy departed, she received a visit here by her family. After touring around the North Island a little, including stops around Auckland to meet all the people Amy befriended and connected with here, her parents departed back for the States. Her brother (Logan), however, remained here until Amy's departure date.

During Amy's last week here we let both her and Logan move in with us, bridging that gap between moving out of her home and her departure flight out of town. It was great to spend that little bit of extra time with them during that last week, and though our house feels a little bit more empty without them here, we're definitely thankful it worked out to share with them in this way.

Farewell on the beach

As I mentioned earlier, there were plenty of 'goodbyes' for Amy to work through during her last week here. One such 'goodbye' was held at one of Auckland's sandy white beaches (a true Kiwi-Farewell you could say).

So there we were, a kiwi-gathering of 50+, surrounding Amy on the edge of the beach, leading down to the water, all praying over her departure (definitely a very emotion-filled sight to behold). One beautiful element to this 'goodbye' was that it wasn't so much a 'farewell' as it was a 'send-off.' Over her 8-months here Amy truly became one of the people, "one of us" some would say, and so standing there on the beach New Zealand was sending out one of her own number to another purpose and calling of God.

Perhaps it's just a slight change of terminology, but in practice, it's so much more. God sends people our way for various purposes and plans all the time, but they are never actually ours to claim, but rather they are gifts from God on "loan," for we are all children of God first and foremost. So, as stewards of God's precious gifts to us, it is only right to see Amy's departure not as a "taking from us" but rather as a "delivery unto others" by God. So we treat all our precious gifts with the utmost level of respect (because they don't belong to us), and when our time is through with them, and the gift must be passed along to others, we cheerfully send them along better than when we received them.

The memory of that day on the beach cannot be wiped from my memory, because it stands as another testimony to the God of grace. Our prayers are ongoing for God to continue his purposes within all of us. That we may all be willing participants in his mission, where ever it may lead us.

Summer has begun

It has been long in coming, but I do believe that Summer has finally arrived in New Zealand. Last year Summer seemed to have started in early November, transitioning directly from Winter (and considering how wet that preceding Winter was to last Summer it was nice that it came so early), but this year Spring has held it's grip around Auckland a bit longer than usual. Never mind that though, because with a few sunny days behind us now, Winter is hardly a forethought.

And what a transition Summer is for everyone here. First off, parents go crazy as all of their kids get out of school the first half of December, followed almost immediately by a city-wide traffic jam as everyone heads to the beach, or a park, or a shopping center (no one wants to be stuck inside), then finally transitioning out of chaos around Christmas Day to a more peaceful, laid back version of Kiwi society. It's a great time to meet people though, as literally everyone is out of their house and about.

As some of you may recall, last year we took our church out and met publicly at a local cafe (while in operation) during the day on Sundays, and then retired back to the house in the evening for worship. That worked out quite well for us as it connected us with people who would have otherwise never crossed our paths. In addition to giving us numerous opportunities to serve others and to talk with passerbys about the truth we live by, it was also paradigm-shifting for the community who was not so accustomed to seeing a 'church with no walls.' We held our bible-studies publicly, invited others to sit in on our discussions, gave away free bibles, even bought a few coffees for others, all the while establishing ourselves in the community as a group of Christ Followers who take Jesus to the people.

This coming summer will be no different from the last and as we will continue to reach out into the community we will be keeping our eyes open for more opportunities to bring Jesus to the people!

Where ever the people are, there we will "Go...".

Ely's Fundraising

The Ely's are still diligently searching for support. As you may know, they are currently in the states on furlough and in addition to resting with family and friends, they are phoning churches and trying to set up presentations to raise additional support.

Keep them in your prayers as they both travel and share with various congregations about the missional needs here in New Zealand.

Raise Up (youth event)

Every month we serve as chaperons for a local youth event. This past event was the last one for the year, and since the event skips January, it's our last one until February 2010.

Each event plays host to somewhere between 450 - 550 local teenagers. Though Raise Up isn't specifically a church sponsored event, most of the 25 volunteers are members of a church somewhere locally, and as such various principles do carry over. Because of our work with the youth at the IceBox, this event is another natural setting to grow a little closer to these kids, helping them also to stay out of trouble, while mentoring them as well.

For the teenagers, it's all about being approachable and reliable, and that's exactly what we hope to accomplish each month through our volunteering. The quickest way to impact a community in a positive (or negative) way is through their youth. We carry along with us at all times God's vision for transforming this community through "the Way" of Jesus, and so we focus our efforts not only on today, but also on tomorrow.

Keep praying for our reach into the community. To be respected is one thing, but to be transformational is another, pray that we may continue to touch the lives' of these youth.

...and that's the update for today. It was a long read (I know), but we're always so thankful for your love and interest, to keep you all updated is a joy. Love you all!

HP, we have a problem

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:13:00 +0000

Something wasn't right.

Sitting down at the Cherry's dining room table, I'm collecting my thoughts for our weekly business meeting. In front of me is my laptop, still hibernating from earlier in the day after I had finished preparing our meeting agenda on it. We began with our weekly "Briefs," followed by a few readings from the bible, and then opened up our meeting with a prayer.

Little did I know that my laptop would not be awakening from the prayer.

There have been several warning signs that this might happen (because this isn't the first time this laptop has blown a processor), so I was about as prepared as you can be to lose a computer (save that I didn't have a replacement laying around).

What this means for all of you is that we will no longer have a means to edit and post our weekly Kia Ora Episodes. And this affects the mission, though only temporarily, in that we'll have to figure out another means of creating and editing advertisements and publications as we need them.

We're really blessed that this happened during the summer holidays, which will give us some time to figure something else out. We'll keep you all posted as to when we can start making our weekly videos again. Until then, we appreciate your patience on this matter. And as always, we're so thankful to all of you, for your ongoing prayers and support.

Given

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:15:00 +0000

We share the air we breathe with all life. We share the ground we walk upon with total strangers. We share the stars in the night sky with dreamers. We share our cozy houses with guests. We share our warm meals with family. We share our ideas with thinkers. We share memories with friends. We even share our love.

You see, we share because we are by nature sharing creatures; we are all partakers of this moment, this creation, of this little thing we call life. We were made that way, and were we placed within a creation which affirms and supports this quality we possess. We are relational. To live is to share life.

Throughout history any ideology or practice that has stood up against this design has inevitably failed over time. You can't work around it, it can't even be improved upon, sharing is both foundational and aspirational to all that is living. The farmer gives the soil a seed. The soil gives the seed root. The root gives the plant nutrition. The nutrition gives the plant fruit. And the fruit gives the farmer seed. Pull any stage from the cycle and the whole system breaks down. Of course that illustration over-simplifies my point, but one mustn't look all that far to discover the various evils and afflictions that have occurred at the hands of those who hoard, steal, poison and destroy (qualities that all take life). In fact, we've all played the victim AND the culprit to the pain that ‘taking’ causes, haven't we?

The Apostle John will go so far as to say that "anyone who does not love his brother...cannot love God"(1). And that is most certainly echoing a theme of Jesus in perhaps his last parable while on earth when he says that to do for the "least of these" was to do for him as well(2). Our life to God is tied precisely to our life to others(3). But does that really surprise us? God didn't just create us, He intimately created us. Inasmuch as a child cannot help but share some resemblances with his or her parents, so too creation was designed to reflect qualities of it's maker. And for anyone within creation to truly possess life he or she must recognize that we have been given everything by God and that we too ought to live a life of cheerful, and even sacrificial, giving to others, it’s what we were made for.

So, when an opportunity presents itself to share with those around you...take it (or, rather, give it), you aren’t really living until you do.

(1) 1 Jn. 4:20 (also see 1 Jn. 3:16) (2) Mt. 25:40 (3) One example of this: Mt. 6:15

Kia Ora | Episode #128

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:04:00 +0000

In this week’s episode:

*NEW VIDEO INTRO* Check it out!
Great trip to Tauranga
Encouraging meeting with the Shepherds
Kris and Barb Smith departed NZ
Amy Jo’s last week with us
Caden got three more teeth for Christmas
Thanks for your support and prayers

View our video at www.LijandKris.com.

Kia Ora | Episode #127

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:38:00 +0000

View our video at www.LijandKris.com.

IceBox wrap-up
Connecting with the Students
Thanksgiving meal preparation
Finding family in New Zealand
Trip to Tauranga
Meeting with Shepherds

Kia Ora | Episode #126

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

View the video at www.lijandKris.com:

Smiths arrived!
IceBox wrapping up for the year
Ely’s departed for and arrived safely back in the States
Pray for their ongoing travels
Dental surgery and Stomach bugs
Turkey Day feast for the Community

Kia Ora | Episode #125

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:34:00 +0000

View our video at: www.LijandKris.com.

Visitors from Tauranga
PNO – Pajama Party
Kym’s Farewell from Starbucks
Happy Birthday Dane!
Ely’s Fundraising
Caden is crawling (forward)….AND still teething
Recent Dental Surgery for Elijah

Kia Ora | Episode #124

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:36:00 +0000

Visit www.LijandKris.com to view our latest video update:

Life is piling up
Connecting in the Community
Parents’ Night Out coming up!
IceBox Update
Raise Up youth chaperoning
Prayer Requests
Inviting people to the table

Kia Ora | Episode #123

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:11:00 +0000

Our weekly www.LijandKris.com video update

Alan and Donna Philips depart
Kym got a job…an answer to our prayers!
Connecting in the community with prayer
Mums and Bubs Coffee group at our house
Thanks for your support!

(Visit our website to view the video)

Kia Ora | Episode #122

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Our weekly www.LijandKris.com video update:

Parents’ Night Out!!!
Amazing turnout…word is spreading!
Meeting needs in the Community
Kris and Caden recovering…
Community Classes begin again

Kia Ora | Episode #121

noreply@blogger.com (Elijah) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:17:00 +0000

Our weekly www.LijandKris.com video update:

Kristen and Caden Sick
Earthquake/Tsunami relief trip
IceBox update
Youth Devos
Ely’s Traveling
Parents’ safe trip back to Sydney
Parents’ Night Out coming up!!!