The trip involved 1 day of driving approx 9 hours (including stops), staying the night in Kansas, then approx 11 hours driving (including stops), staying the night in Missouri, then approx 8 hours driving (including stops), arriving in Linden, Tennessee, just 2 nights later than planned.
Our "road trip" rental :-) Due to Emelia contracting chicken-pox, it meant that we were not allowed to fly from Colorado to Nashville as previously planned as the airlines don't want others catching it. We really needed to be in Tennessee by the following weekend for an event we needed to attend, but the only option seemed to be for us to stay in a hotel in Denver, Colorado until Emelia was no longer contagious (3-7 days), and then if Naomi caught it (only child who hasn't), it could have been up to 2 weeks in a hotel room! At first our travel insurance company said they would only cover 1 parent to stay with a sick child until we convinced them I wasn't leaving Becky in a different State on her own with a sick child :-). We then put forward the idea to the travel insurance company about driving instead, which would be much cheaper for them, and would mean we could get to Tennessee on time. They agreed so we made the decision, and the "unexpected" road trip was planned. The trip involved 1 day of driving approx 9 hours (including stops), staying the night in Kansas, then approx 11 hours driving (including stops), staying the night in Missouri, then approx 8 hours driving (including stops), arriving in Linden, Tennessee, just 2 nights later than planned. Our road trip route - over 1000 miles (1,600km). What has been such a blessing, is the multiple confirmations we had about this trip before leaving NZ. This really helped us when Emmie got chicken pox, as we all thought "what has the Lord got in store here", rather than stress about the trip not going to plan. We're sure there will be many more "unexpected" moments, so we are thankful God is leading the trip not us! More updates on the road trip to follow!
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One of the "touristy" things we were recommended to do as a family whilst in Colorado, was to drive to the top of "Pike's Peak". This is a mountain with a road that you can drive up, and at the top you are just over 14,000 feet above sea level (over 4,200 metres). It is the the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. We took one of the Swanson girls along with us, Abigail, who the girls have really enjoyed getting to know along with Kevin's other daughters. Colorado is beautiful, and we were so blessed to be able to see God's awesome creation in this State. Man marvels and wonders at such sights, yet we know the One who made them all! 13 For behold, He who forms mountains, And creates the wind, Who declares to man what his thought is, And makes the morning darkness, Who treads the high places of the earth-- The Lord God of hosts is His name. (Amos 4:13) We were very motivated to support Chick-Fil-A, a fast food chain that has great service (they always say "my pleasure" instead of "your welcome", great food (it really is!), and who took a very brave stance against the gay marriage issue, and suffered for it. So we were happy to support them! Some photos as we began our trip up the mountain. On the drive down they check the temperature of your car brakes, to make sure you aren't over using them - if you drive down using brakes all the time they overheat! We came down pretty quick... After 3 days in Los Angeles, our next stop was Colorado. Staying in a hotel close to the LAX airport, we had to all be up at 3am, and get a shuttle to the airport. The biggest challenge in these situations is the amount of luggage we have (and that's after only taking what we needed!). We certainly get some funny looks that's for sure :-) Our purpose in visiting Colorado was to spend time with the Swanson family. Kevin Swanson, director of Generations with Vision (www.generationswithvision.com) is a very influential speaker, author and radio host, known for his straight-forward, and no-nonsense approach to looking at cultural, political and spiritual issues with a Biblical worldview and perspective. But behind the public ministry, Kevin has been a great encouragement to our family in his role as a father, and disciple-maker. As a family, we feel God wants us to serve the body of Christ by encouraging families to function Biblically, which means to function together, and in accordance with God's Word. As Home-Educators, our primary reason for doing home-educating, is not to give our children an academic advantage, but to maximise our efforts in making disicples of our children, in accordance with Matthew 28:18-20. We also desire to function more in various aspects of Family Economy, dispelling the myth that having children only produces expense, not income. The Swanson Family function together as one unit (those still living at home), and all play various roles in the different aspects of ministry. They are SUCH an inspiration in the way they demonstrate hospitality, seeing that as a primary way to encourage others in the faith. We have learned so much from observing them, and interacting with them. Hospitality is something we have been seeking to do more and more, and is something greatly underestimated and under-practised among Christians today. Something I greatly admire, is when a man who has a public ministry, is engaged and involved with his family, and is willing to interact with people in that context. This means that such a man is willing for other people to see him as he is, with no pretense, and has the humility to be honest and open about his weaknesses, failures, and struggles. Kevin Swanson is such a man, and the way he operates with the support of his wife Brenda, and their children, is such an inspiration. Although a very busy family, what stood out was that time was prioritised and taken for family time, family worship, including Bible Study, and worship in song, and also conversation and fellowship. Kevin explained how he sets apart a large margin for these things, and everything else functions around that. There is flexibility to the demands and dynamics of each day, but the important things are put first. I (Kris), learned so many valuable things from conversations with Kevin, as did Becky and the children through fellowship and conversations, really confirming how important this trip is for us as a family. Our family with some of the Swanson family. The town of Elizabeth is a beautiful historical town, We got to walk around a bit and explore... Kevin had his aunt Judy, and her husband Bill visiting while we were there. This couple were such an inspiration and blessing. They spend nearly all their time where they live in North Carolina, going around helping, serving, and encouraging people. They had story, upon story of God's faithfulness in their lives and the lives of others. They were actually "newly weds" only having been married a short while. They met with the common denominator that both had cared for their dying spouses "in-home" for many years, and so knew that they would care for each other. Judy described how when caring for her terminally ill husband she used to ask God for strength to lift him, as no one else was around, and he was too heavy - but the Lord helped her! Such an example of using the later years in life to serve God whole-heartedly. Here's a photo of Judy and Bill with some of the kids. Side note, the "wheely bins" in Colorado are amazing, and big!!!...(see below) Kris & Kevin. On Sunday, we went to Kevin's church, "Reformation Church of Elizabeth", an age-integrated church that is around 14 years old. Elizabeth is the name of the town in which the Swansons live. The church meeting began with worship, then an exhortation leading to a time of confessing sin. As Kevin gave this exhortation he emphasised the importance of having God's Word always present, always relevant, and always personified - in other words, more Christ in our lives! We were encouraged that we cannot live the Christian life, apart from full reliance upon Christ. So great to hear the same messages we hear back at Redemption! There was also a great message from Kevin on Eph 6:1-4, and this was followed by inviting various men to give comments, and exhortations in regard to the text preached. Following the meeting there was a 1.5 hr shared lunch, then a second meeting focusing on corporate prayer. Some highlights from the message Kevin brought were: - The need to balance indicatives (what we need to believe) in Scripture, with imperatives (what we need to do), - Some people think the Bible doesn't say much about child training, but as we look to Jesus we see that parents are to train and raise their children, in the same way Jesus trained and raised His children (disciples). - The essential need for humility as parents. If our children don't see us coming to the cross, and repenting of our sin, how can we expect them to? - To love our children is to endure with them in their sin and weakness. To resort to anger and "you will never do that again" ultimatum style parenting, just exasperates them. (This was convicting to me (Kris), as during several stressful events within our trip, I have certainly "blown it" and tried to produce the righteousness of God with my wrath. I am thankful for forgiving children! - In summary, the absolute priority above all priorities is to teach our children the Word of God. The Swanson's church in Elizabeth, Colorado. We also got to spend time with our friends, Chad & Becky, and Danny & Megan. They all visited us in NZ back in 2013 as a group with some other friends, before they were all married. It was great to see them in their married state. Again, what was so sweet about the fellowship, aside from HEAPS of laughs, was the intentional time of singing worship together, and looking at God's Word. It wasn't forced, just casual but intentional, and so edifying. It really challenges us to make this more of a feature in our fellowship time with other brothers and sisters. After all, we are Christians, and we worship God, so it would seem natural to do that with other believers, not just on Sundays.
When we were in Auckland over 14 years ago, I met Ray Comfort on a couple of occasions when he came and did outreaches with our church. His encouragement to bring people to Christ by the use of the law has always had an impact on me, and I have always found it the most loving, clear and effective way to share the gospel with the lost. Before our trip, I emailed Ray, offering to take him for lunch. It was a long shot, but then he emailed back inviting our whole family to tour his ministry headquarters, followed by him hosting a lunch for us! The staff were so inviting and friendly, and let us wander around the ministry, looking at how things were made, filmed, shipped and used - the kids loved it. If you haven't seen Ray's latest movie, "Audacity" - I encourage you to check it out here. Also, Ray is speaking via Skype at an upcoming evangelism conference in Christchurch, hosted by the "Tell Me" group our church has been partnering with in street evangelism. For more info on that click here. Here are some photos from our visit with Ray at Living Waters, and a little video we made for fun. Apologies for the delay with updates. We are a bit behind ourselves, but today I have a good internet connection so am posting a bunch of updates in a "belated" fashion :-) Well after 19 hours of travel (from when we left Christchurch) we finally arrived at our friends, Bill & Cathy Phillips home in Lancaster, California. The flight went pretty well considering, but not much sleep all round. The little ones slept, but the others were too excited I think, and Becky and I were too 'wired' from all the rush and busyness leading up to getting on the plane. However, we were grateful for the sleep we did have. We had 2 nights in Lancaster, then our 3rd night was in a hotel near the airport as we needed to get up at 3am to leave for the airport again to fly to Denver, Colorado. Here are some photos... Our family with Pastor Bill Phillip and his wife Cathy - great friends of ours. Last time we saw them as a family we just had Sarah at 8 months old - so a big change since then! Bill was my first pastor just after I got saved in LA in 1994, and was so instrumental in encouraging me to love God and His Word. Bill and Cathy also came to the UK in 1998 and took part in our wedding - a great reunion!
It's been so full on here we haven't had a chance to post any updates. We will be posting some updates very soon, but before we do, we really want to acknowledge a precious little baby girl, Myla Arbuthnot. Myla was born to our friends at church, Kimble and Micheline, just over 11 weeks ago. She was diagnosed some weeks after birth with type 1 SMA, a spinal disease that gave her only weeks to live. At just over 10 weeks old, Myla went to be with Jesus. Her parent's have been such an amazing testimony of faith, though understandably heart broken at all they have been through. We so wanted to be with our church family for Myla's thanksgiving service yesterday, but it was God's will we were here. We are thankful for the cuddles we had, and so blessed to see how many lives wee Myla touched. Our church family stepped out in faith, and planned and carried out the entire funeral themselves, saving the family thousands - what an awesome witness. Anyway, we really wanted to keep Myla's memory alive in the years ahead as we look back through this blog, as she, and her parents have been very much in our thoughts and prayers during our travels. Myla, you will be missed, but we all rest in the fact that your last breath on earth was your first breath in heaven, as you rest with Jesus.
Rev 21:4 - And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” We are so blessed to be a part of the local church, and specifically our local church Redemption Church. Also, it means so much that as we venture on this trip, we also have the blessing of our local church. Thankyou Redemption Church family for your support, love fellowship and prayers - we will miss you all during the next 3 months!!!! Here is a photo of some of the deacons praying for our family last Sunday....
Our friend Nikos, helping us to store away our lives in boxes for the next 3 months. I'm sure we will learn how to live without it!
1 Timothy 6:8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. This is our new blog which we have set up for the purpose of keeping a record of many of the things we will be doing, seeing, taking part in, experiencing, enjoying, being challenged with, and learning about in our upcoming trip to the USA for just under 3 months. We thought the best way to keep family and friends informed during our travels was to have a "one-stop-shop" of updates, blog posts, photos and video. Holly will be doing most of the journalling, Sarah will be doing most of the photos and video, and I will write as and when I can. We appreciate your prayers for our family during this time. Please check out the "About" page for more info on the vision/purpose of this trip, and our prayer needs.
In Him, Kris |
Welcome!!!This blog features, updates, posts, photos and videos from our 2015 USA Ministry Trip from 14 Sept to 14 Dec. Archives
November 2015
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