Dear Friends                                                                                                                                                     

 Alas! My greenhouse is no more - a very strong wind on the night of 3 September blew out one corner and many other panels. Some of the aluminium framing was torn because of its flimsy nature so not worth trying to repair. The only good thing is that I had not yet planted anything nor put in the bench for seed boxes etc.

 The moral / parable? Make sure the superstructure is strong enough to withstand whatever might come along to buffet things about.

 When assembling it I had wondered about not only the construction methodology but also the capacity of the materials. So some $, time, and energy expended for a failed outcome. But no sense in bemoaning that, rather do it again with my own design using timber and proven simpler techniques.

 Mid September I spent 27 hours in Christchurch with Rodney supporting our pastors, looking at the damage some churches sustained, and working on some ways forward for them. It is not a pretty sight for Oxford Terrace and Beckenham particularly. Some staff has also experienced degrees of damage in their homes while others nothing at all.

 The awesome power of natural events is mind blowing and the range of human coping mechanisms considerable. There are many encouraging and God glorifying stories emerging as well as some flaky and irresponsible theological ideas revealing strange views of God.  Not from our pastors I hasten to add!

 Our churches in the area are planning a combined service at Spreydon Baptist Church on Sunday afternoon 10 October to tell some of the stories, to glorify God and to help one another look for what He is about with them. We can all support them in prayer for this event.

 Since I wrote the bulk of this, Southland has experienced their worst snow storm in decades – different to an earthquake but still quite disastrous consequences for some people.

In the office here we are gearing up for The Gathering (aka Assembly) with auditors about to arrive and Annual Reports being collated. If your church admin people have not yet sent in the statistics returns you may soon get a phone call requesting same.

 Spring will eventually turn sunny and warmer so keep looking up and forward as there is always another step or two to take as we journey with Christ through this life he gives to us.