Packing Up

The Liverpool Liver Buildings, symbol of the city of my birth and my current place of residence!

(clarification for the dim - we're not living in the Liver Buildings)

It’s been nearly two weeks since I wrote from Auckland airport – sorry. Travelling back to the UK was OK – I had Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to keep me company (the book that is!), as well as the extensive choice of film, TV and CDs that Singapore Airways offer on their intercontinental flights (they get the big thumbs up from me!).

Ines and the kids were at the airport to meet me which was great and we headed home – not to a week of R&R as I wanted, but to a week of packing up and getting ready to go, which is what we needed.

It’s been fairly painful – packing up, throwing out and giving stuff away. Its amazing how attached I felt to books I’ve hardly looked at in a couple of years, breathtaking how hard it was to give my much neglected guitar to someone and just all round testing to throw our home open to anyone from church who wanted to come and help themselves to our books, toys, tools, etc. Soon someone is coming to take the furniture.

Within a week, our home was undone and has simply become a house again. The stuff that we are shipping fits into 6 suitcases (admittedly 2 of them are the largest things I’ve ever seen and it is a good job that they have got wheels otherwise you’d need several weightlifters to move them!). It got to us all – a bit like pulling at the thread of a favourite jumper – our home, unravelled before us as we took down pictures, threw out things that we knew would be of no use, restocked charity shops with clothes, books and other things that would be of use but that we could find no legitimate reason to ship to the other side of the world.

God called us to Leicester, we had a real sense that he wanted us in the house we’ve lived in for the last 5 years and have seen him answer prayer time and time again, as we’ve lived in the centre of a community that is desperately in need of more Christians involved in it. Now the house is reduced to a shell we are desperate for it to sell. Please do pray that the house would sell in the next couple of weeks – we are confident that it will sell, God has provided for us and led us this far… Pray too that we won’t stress about it.

We’re with my family at the moment and will soon head to Germany to see Ines’ family: packing up a home is hard, saying goodbye to friends and family is more tasking and wearing; please do pray for us and the kids that as we prepare to leave in just 6 weeks time we will know God’s help, presence and peace as well as opportunities to proclaim his truth in our words and in how we live.

The End of the Beginning

Auckland city skyline - it is impressive during the day but stunning at night!

I’m in Auckland airport, sitting at a ‘laptop desk’ – a woman just asked me if I worked in the Duty Free shop. Just cos I look like a geek don’t make me an employee!

It feels a bit weird – going back to the UK. I can’t wait to see Ines and the kids – they have been much on my mind and I’m desperate to see them. Still feels weird though. I’ve been here preparing for the future and now I’m returning to put the past ‘to bed’.

The next eight weeks will see me finish with UCCF, say goodbye to friends and family in both the UK and Germany and arrive back to the place where I am now, to live for the long haul. Within the hour (or so they are saying at the moment!) the flight will be called and I’ll leave New Zealand for the first time.

Here’s an interesting but not useless fact – Auckland Airport charges passengers NZ$25/£10 to leave the country. How’s that for confidence? They want to punish people for leaving. It caught me by surprise tonight – thank goodness for credit cards, but it then made me think that leaving the country with 5 of us will be a bit more painful.

The other thing you are made to do is fill in a card – I had to fill it in saying that I had lived in the country less than a year (just short of 3 weeks to be precise) and that I would be returning within 8 weeks. I don’t know where home is any more – and that brings me back to one of the first posts on this blog. I seem to be a resident of more than one country, confused by where I belong but certain that I don’t belong to any earthly place (especially the Duty Free shop!)

The last few days have been great – I’ve been hosted by a lovely couple who have treated me as a family member rather than a guest (which is a relief), I’ve set up a bank account, viewed some houses with an eye to buying, pondered the options for transport, wondered why everyone in New Zealand says the traffic in Auckland is so awful (its better than Leicester!) and enjoyed driving around in a borrowed car (Kiwi’s are incredibly generous and hospitable). There is nothing I’ve seen that has made me question if this is God’s calling – I’m sure that will come but it hasn’t yet.

As I wait to board a plane I’m thankful for the last 3 weeks. Thankful for the provision of this time to prepare for our arrival here in September; to meet those that I will work alongside and to rejoice in God’s call to such a place as New Zealand and at such an important time for His work on the campuses of this land. I’m also thankful for those who are standing with us in this – in prayer and finances: it is humbling to stand among so many and to be commissioned to do work which they uphold and make possible.

This is the end of the beginning. From here on in the blog will be updated on a weekly basis – or more often, if something interesting happens, if I get time or if I’m avoiding work that I should be doing! :)

Starting Home...

Winery that we visited two days ago at Wanaka - amazing Pinot Noir for free!!! Hmmm.

I'm currently sitting in Queenstown airport, waiting to catch a plane to Auckland - the wonders of wireless technology!

The time in Bannockburn has been a great help in getting my head around the last 2.5 weeks and all that has happened. On the way to the airport, Kay (UCCF CUSW Edinburgh, leading the UCCF team here) asked me how I was feeling about coming out here.

My honest answer is that I am seriously encouraged. There is so much that is exciting - the opportunity to make a difference and contribute to a work that is ongoing and growing, though it has been through a hard time; the people that I will be working with and the thing I find most encouraging and exciting is that God is calling us out here.

I'm heading up to Auckland until Sunday which is when I will catch the flight back to the UK. The Auckland trip will be to set up a bank account, get to know the city a bit and begin to suss out where we might look at somewhere to live. There is so much to do before we arrive on Sept 16th that it is hard to comprehend it all.

I'd value your prayers for my time in Auckland that I'll use the time wisely and get some opportunities to reflect as I'll spend a lot of time by myself. I'll see if I can write more before my return.

Painfully Beautiful

BANNOCKBURN SUNSET

The view from the veranda of the place we are staying.

As we travelled from Christchurch to Dunedin I was ovewhelmed with the beauty of this country - the reality is that it IS painfully beautiful. After a night and half a day in Dunedin I've travelled on to Bannockburn with the 12 members of the UCCF team and Val Goold.

The team are taking some time out to stop and think before they split: some returning to North Island to work with Massey students in Palmerston North, some returning to Dunedin to work with students at Otago university. The days in Bannockburn are being spent resting, thinking, praying and working through 1 Thessalonians.

The view from the 'crib' (cabin/cottage) is painfully beautiful. It is a stunning view of mountains and valley - as though someone thought up the best possible combination and put it all together. It is great to have time to stop and think - and to think of the painful beauty that makes up New Zealand and the challenges that lie here: beauty because of what God is doing and pain because the hard work of the gospel is never easily accomplished or completed.

Please do pray for the team and I as we all look at the challenges of the future - for the team it is more immediate and short term but no less challenging:

• Pray that the time to reflect and pray will be one that leads to thankfulness and joy in God's work in our lives as well as amongst the students here.
• Pray for partnership with students and staff - for gospel centred relationships and commitments.
• Pray for rest and refreshment before ploughing into the work that is required in the weeks, months and years ahead.

A Long Way from Home

Photo: David Wulff - creative commons licence

Last night someone said that there were reports of an explosion in central London. My heart sank; all of a sudden I was keenly aware of every one of the 12,000 miles between me and the UK. Well, not so much the UK but between me and my family and friends, between me and home.

We turned on the data projector and hooked it up to the TV – Sky News relayed the pictures of calm chaos on the edge of Tavistock square, reporting three, then five, then eight explosions: snatched pictures of the bus in pieces; an interview with a bloke who smilingly passed it off as a reaction to the news that London had won the Olympic bid; brief shots of medical staff walking the streets of London in their surgical clothing; speculation from reporter and politician. None of it helped, I just felt further away from home than ever.

I phoned Ines, she and the kids were home for lunch. Chatting briefly, touching base. Feeling of being a long way away increased. Distance in time zone and geography seem to amplify the isolation. I wanted to connect – this is not about me, not about how I’m feeling, not centred around what I need; but still I felt the need to make the connection with home.

“When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” (Mark 13.7-8)

We ARE a long way from Home. The distance in time and geography increases the feeling of longing for an end to the wickedness and chaos that too easily rears its ugly head. This, all of this, is but the beginning of the birth pangs. This world, these people, we all, are in a transitory moment. God has subjected this world and its people to frustration, sin has temporary rule but a new order will ‘soon’ be made known. First ‘the end’ must come.

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8.18-23)

We ARE a long way from Home. Whether it is the wickedness of individuals or the inconveniences of living a less than perfect life, we are reminded that this is neither the world as it was designed to be nor the end of the line. Though there will one day be a Great End to this whole reality, there will be a new creation, a renewal and restoration, a glory and a hope that will not fade or be tainted by sin and wickedness. When it comes, those who have waited for the return of Jesus will know that we have come to our Home; and then there will be ‘the freedom of the glory of the children of God’.

This freedom liberates us in the here and now, to engage the evil and to make Jesus known. When He comes again it will not simply be a homecoming for those who love Him, but a setting to rights and a meeting out of justice. Today, I’m longing to be home as well as to be Home.

Unexpected Detour

The TSCF staff team

(Back row) Bridget, Janice, Tim, Andrew Graham, Jeff, Val, Nigel, Mark, me

(Front Row) Erin, Mark, Lian Hong, Karen, Karen

The small aircraft I was in banked suddenly and made a steep turn, starting a rapid descent. The captain addressed us in a calm and steady voice. “We are starting our descent into Wellington; please make sure your seatbelts are fastened.” I’d boarded the flight to Christchurch; no one had mentioned a stopover in Wellington. I was relieved that we weren’t about to crash but was slightly concerned that I might have boarded the wrong flight! I hadn’t but it seemed that I was the only one who didn’t know about the short stop at Wellington to let some passengers off, to take on some more and to then take off again for Christchurch.

I’ve travelled down to South Island for the TSCF staff conference (4-7 July) and immediately after for the Mid-year Mission Madness South conference (7-10 July). We’ve been thinking a lot about the future – Nigel presented his initial thoughts and plans for the next 3-5 years, he promised change, chaos, challenge and complexity as well as clarity and community. The pace and volume of change is not easy; not just for the Shudall family but for all involved in TSCF. Undoubtedly the months and years ahead will sometimes feel like we are making an unscheduled detour from the expected flight path; with all of the attendant uncertainties, anxieties and, at times, pain and fear that this invokes.

There are two things which bring comfort and encouragement. The first is that under God’s sovereignty there are no unscheduled detours. Just because I hadn’t been told and didn’t expect the plane to bank, turn and descend did not mean that we were about to crash. So too in the years ahead, when it feels like things are not travelling along as I expect them to, it does not mean that they are going wrong. Remind me of this, I’ll need it. God is the one who is in control, he decides the flight path, descent rate and exactly where and when the stopovers are.

The second comfort and encouragement is those I’m travelling with. As I look around whilst typing this I can see the TSCF staff team. I couldn’t have asked for better company and companionship on the journey. Those who we travel with are almost as vital as where we are going to; I know that whatever the route of the coming months and years, I’m in good company – there will be partners and friends to share the thrills, spills and joys of all that lies ahead.

Moving on in the Godzone

'Mr Frodo sir!' - a view over 'The Shire" the part of Waikato region that Peter Jackson used for filming Hobbiton

The conference ended Sunday lunchtime (3.7.05) and I moved on with the UCCF team and Val Goold (TSCF Head of Student Ministries) to Papa Moa before heading south for staff conference on the Monday. We drove through the most incredible countryside – stopped on a ‘scenic view’ lay-by to survey the beauty.

“Just down there,” Val pointed to a set of hills that looked as though some child had drawn them and coloured them in the brightest of greens, “is where the Shire was.” You could see why Peter Jackson had chosen this area of the Waikato to set the scenes of innocent joy in Hobbiton, why it would be this part of New Zealand representing that which most needed protecting in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is truly beautiful and the picture above does not do justice to the expansive reality of how painfully beautiful this area is, as are many other parts of New Zealand.

It is little wonder that often Kiwi’s refer to this land as ‘Godzone’ – its God’s own country, he kept the best for himself! Yet, at the heart of much of this land is a secularism that inherently denies the existence of God, let alone his claim to the rule our lives. The stunning beauty of this land and the stubborn pride of the Kiwi’s in ‘all that we have made by our own effort’ is put into sharp relief by Romans 1.18-22

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools”

It is not an unfriendly place, I am not miserable here: in fact I am delighted that God has called us to such an amazing place and feel a great sense of responsibility to come and take up his call to be involved in his work among this people. For although they ARE deserving of his judgement, they are no more so rebellious or foolish than any other people on the face of the earth

“`Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” Romans 10.13-14

I’m joining a team of people who love him because he has called them to himself through faith in Jesus, I am coming to proclaim him and to enable others to do so – looking out over ‘the Shire’ made me profoundly grateful for this privilege and amazingly excited that it should be here and now that he has called me, Ines and the kids to love and serve him.

Do I Hongi?

(c) Mike Hudson, used with permission: available for purchase, click image

Midterm Mission Madness North (30/06-03./07) began with Val Goold (TSCF Head of Student Ministries) issuing a welcome in Maori. Students, staff and visitors were welcomed in as though we were at a Marae (Maori meeting place). The students here are two-thirds internationals (Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian, amongst others) and one-third Kiwi (both Pakeha – white Kiwis – and other ethnic groups): a truly international group. There is also a sizable British contingent – 11 UCCF students & Relay Workers, Kay Cathcart (Edinburgh CUSW), Nigel Pollock and his family as well as Emma Brewster (SW Regional Team Leader, here on Sabbatical).

The end of the welcome ceremony culminated in the Hongi – the ‘sharing of the same breath’. Two people take each others right hands as though in a hand shake, then taking the other person’s right shoulder with the left hand and drawing in close, to the point where forehead and nose touch: so that you literally ‘share breath’. The idea is that once you have shared the Hongi there is nothing to divide and the community: the family is formed. It is about as counter cultural as it gets for Brits – the British handshake being as much about keeping people at distance as it is about greeting someone meaningfully.

New Zealand is a mixture of many cultures and TSCF reflects this variety. The conference makes this abundantly clear – staff and students from cultures, language groups, ethnic backgrounds that could divide and differentiate, but it is not the Hongi that unites this group. As we study the letter to church in Philippi, it is clear that the unity of those who follow Jesus comes through His death and resurrection and our unity with Him. The reality of this unity is challenging and liberating. There is still a way to go before the full impact of gospel unity is known and felt in experience as well as in conviction.

If you are praying for me, pray that what Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians might be true of all the students and staff involved in TSCF.
“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents.” (Phil 1.27-28)

Gospel centred unity, when lived, is more radically counter cultural than the Hongi for Brits, Kiwis, Malaysians or Indonesians. Do I Hongi? – well I did and it felt a bit weird, pray that I might live a life centred on the real unity and love that gospel living brings, Oh, and pray that next time I Hongi I won’t feel so weird!

Call Me Gershom

By William Lee Hankey (http://neartexchange.com/neart/artist/406) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The flight went well – Singapore Airlines are GREAT: 60 on demand movies, TV programmes, CD collection and arcade games on the in-seat screen – just what you need to while away 24 hours on a plane. It was not so great that I sat behind a screaming 18-month-old child on the first flight – neither he nor I slept much!

The slightly weird thing was the food – not that it wasn’t great as well, it was, truly was. Its just that I think I ate 6 times in 24 hours and lunch, supper, breakfast, breakfast, lunch and a ‘snack’ didn’t help with the time confusion. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful for it all, but it was just weird.

We were half and hour late into Auckland and going through New Zealand customs is a bit of an ordeal. The immigration officers are nice, polite and helpful – but the threat of a hefty fine if you inadvertently bring fruit, soil, plant seeds or a myriad other things into the country throws the most certain of travellers into paranoia. As I was queuing, in my sleep-deprived state, I began to fear that I may have accidentally packed a whole kilo of granny smiths without noticing. I worried in case they discovered something that contravened the rules, that I was destined for prison and that this would be the end of my New Zealand career ever before it began. Needless to say, I was not arrested for granny smith smuggling!

However, I was granted my residence permit – so I’m now an official resident of New Zealand: it is both strange and encouraging to be granted residence in a country I’d only just arrived in. The big burly Maori guy who granted the permit, stamped my passport and said, “Welcome to your new home, Mr Andrew Shudall”. The last six months have all been about preparing to come and now that I’m here, I’m not here as a visitor but as someone who ‘belongs’ – when I return in September with Ines and the kids, we don’t have to go through the tourist lane at the airport but through the lane for New Zealand residents.

Although I now ‘belong’ here I still very much feel like an ‘alien in a strange land’ (Gen 2.22) – the stamp in my passport which grants me residence in this land that I do not know is just another miraculous provision of an open door. I know with greater certainty that this land is not my home, and strangely enough, I know too that no land this side of the Great Border is home to any of us who hold to the Lord Jesus. Our city, our land has not yet been made know, though our citizenship is secure.