Getting Home!

That was a marathon run. We didn't arrive home until 6:30 Thursday night, 62 hours after leaving Raro. Our flight was cancelled in LA, so we finally arrived in San Francisco around 10 p.m. and got to stay in the oh-so-tacky Red Roof Inn. No extra clothes, but the airlines did supply a toothbrush, yeah! Back on the road again the next morning to catch the flight to Portland. We arrived there around noon and after two delays in our flights to North Bend, they finally got another plane for us and got us home. But, alas, our luggage wasn't there. It came in later that night. Boy, are we glad to be home. Our kids (except Jason who chose to go skiing instead of meeting us!) and granddaughters met us at the airport and made our day.

It was a great trip, but a long, long time getting home. Maybe, hopefully, the next trip will be better.

This Ain't Paradise!

Wow. It's now 10 p.m. Wednesday and we're in San Francisco. We left Rarotonga at 3:30 am Tuesday morning and arrived in LA on Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. We were supposed to fly out at 4 p.m. but the flight was cancelled and we finally left at 7:30 only to get this far. They put us up for the night and we're supposed to get on another flight to Portland at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow and arrive home at 5 p.m. For some reason, we weren't supposed to be home tonight because nothing we did could get us there. It will be a 60 hour trip by the time we arrive home. That's a record! And we're tired and so ready to be there. Oh well, it will soon be over.

The Last Day in Rarotonga

We spent our last evening in Paradise with Nancy, Murray and Kerry at The Tamarind House, our favorite Island restaurant. It was a beautiful evening, not too hot this time and we stayed until it got dark and the lights came on in the trees. A lovely restaurant, great food and great company. Who could ask for anything more? And Murray paid.

Isn't this beautiful?! The atmosphere and views almost make up for the cost of the meal here. Almost!

Save Now

Ron and I posed in front of the restaurant and the deck where couples can get married right over the water. He even asked me to dance with him! But he was just kidding, neither of us know how to dance! We got a few hours sleep before getting up at 1 am to get to the airport. We left at 3:45 am Tuesday morning and arrived in Auckland at 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning, only 4.5 hours later. We got a nice motel near the airport for the 12 hour layover and got to rest and shower and eat a nice lunch before heading back to the airport. We had a scare there. Ron left his wallet bag with our credit cards, money and passports laying on a table in the coffee area and we didn't even know it until our names were paged. Then we realized what he had done and we went running. It took about 30 minutes to actually find the right people who had it and everything was still there. Praise the Lord! We were so thankful, and a little sick at our stomachs too.

I'm sitting at the airport and with this picture just realized how burned my nose is. I need to even this out with a spray tan when I get home. Which is soon now. We'll be boarding in about 30 minutes or so for our flight to LA! Yeah!

Day 18, Rarotonga

We went to the market again this morning. It's not very big but 3 of the people in the church have booths there. Two sell Black Pearls which are from one of the other Islands in the Cooks, not Tahiti! My mother-in-law bought a Tahitian Black pearl in Hawaii, little did she know it either came from the Cooks or Japan. Tahiti doesn't have them! Anyway, the other church guy sells hydropondic lettuces and such. Lots of crafts and island made things. i bought a great purse here last week.

Sunday service went really well. A few less than last week, but about 80 or so, includng the chldren. This is Murray praying for them during ministry time. They are kind of quiet and not very demonstrative, but they received ministry very well.

This is me and Josie. Josie is one of the girls in the church who is competing for Miss Cook Islands. Another girl, JoyAna Meyer, is also competing and is the favorite for the title, but she is still in Auckland at University. Josie is a very sweet natured girl and loves the Lord. I'm excited to see how the competition turns out.

Sunset on Sunday evening. It sets on the other side of the Island but we could see the residual effects from the house. It was stormy most of the day Sunday and very humid, but during the night it poured rain. Pretty cool all day today and no more storms.

I just got out of the lagoon, snorkeling for the last time. It was great. In fact, it was like snorkeling at the fish tank in Captain Choice! The same fish. Beautiful. I was chatting with Chloe at this time. She wanted to know what I was drinking. It's only a fruit smoothie, don't worry. Shortly after, we returned our scooters and walked a ways to a little restaurant for lunch and blogging. Our day is almost over. We're having dinner at a favorite restaurant tonight, The Tamarind House and then it's a few hours sleep before leaving for the airport at 2 a.m. Leaving Paradise is always sad, but we're really ready to get back home and back to work. God has been so good to us, getting away like this really allows Him to speak clearly and we're ready to busy again. It's been a good two weeks in a really beautiful and peaceful and slow paced place.

Day 17, Rarotonga.

We stopped at Black Rock and watched the fish for a while. We saw several long black and white striped fish that looked like a small eel. Never had seen that one before. We hear people snorkel here, but the currents looked like it would throw you into the rocks. It's a very beautiful spot. Then we went on to the Edgewater Resort to blog and facebook. The storm started brewing and it was getting very dark and windy so we thought we could outrun it to the next resort for lunch. We didn't. As you can see.....

We got caught in the downpour, kept riding thinking it would end soon. When we couldn't see any more we pulled off to wait it out under this awning. We were both soaked! It let up after a good while and we continued on to lunch. It's good that the resorts are all outdoors and people eat in the restaurants with swimming suits on, wet and sandy and all, because we fit right in.

This was the Friday night service. There was about 50 people there. I thought it was pretty good group, since they are not used to non-Sunday morning services. There were some visitors too. This is going to be the best church on the Island, no doubts. It's got great bones, a strong foundation. I got my turn at the pulpit and I just spoke a little about worship. I was nervous!

There's Ron in his shorts! He preached on the imagination, it was a great message. He wasn't nervous at all, he was funny and anointed. What a combination! Classic Ron.

This morning after breakfast we went to the market again. It's a fascinating place. Everything is different than at home, which makes it oh so interesting.

One of the guys in the church, Colin and his employee. He runs a hydroponic lettuce farm and was at the market today.

This is a view of the mountains in the center of the island and of the market stalls. We really like going here. It's fun to people watch. We're having a great time here, but the countdown is 3 more days till we leave for home. We leave on Tuesday at 3:30 a.m. and arrive home Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. That's a lot of hours in the air, and a lot more in layovers. We'll be ready to be home with our kids and granddaughters and our church family. Can't wait.

Kia Orana, from the Cook islands

Day 16, Rarotonga

Today was interesting. We saw a storm coming in while we were at the beach and thought we would outrun it. Bad mistake. We got caught in the worst rain we've seen here. We were soaking wet, like we'd been swimming! It was so funny. We finally pulled over and stood under an awning for a while till the worst of it was over, then continued on to lunch at The Rarotongan. We're here right now, still sopping wet. The first revival meeting starts tonight at 7. We'll send pictures later, probably tomorrow. We're excited about the next few days. There was a nice writeup in the paper this morning about the new church and the services. Nancy and Murray are busy getting things organized before leaving in a few weeks to get ready for conference. They will be sending some guys over to preach on Sunday's here until they return after conference. Then they will stay here until August when they come to the US. We've taken on a project here, they need a set of drums for their worship team. They have a borrowed, very rusty set and really need their own. So get ready, we'll be asking for an offering when we get home. We mentioned it to the team, and they are so excited they are already looking for what they need. IT'S ONLY 2 PM SO MORE TO COME AFTER SERVICE TONIGHT.

Day 15, Rarotonga.

Ron meditating on the Friday night message

Blogging at the Beach!

. Internet is sketchy now, we've overused Murray's account so we're having!! to go to the resorts to get online. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights we had Men's and Women's cell groups here at the house. Good groups, both. I gave a brief testimony and Nancy spoke a little on the Book of Ruth and then prayed for the girls. They are gearing up for the revival meetings that begin tomorrow night (Friday). Today the local television station came by the church to interview Murray and Ron and Kevin Iro, who is a Rarotongan who played professional rugby for the Warriors but is now retired and living back on the Island, he's one of the founding members of the church and is well known around here and actually carries a lot of weight with the locals. He's the church worship leader and is actually very shy but is willing to do interviews and such to promote the church. It was on the local news tonight and the newspaper will come out tomorrow with a large editorial on the church, so we're expecting an even larger group come Sunday. Ron and I went to The Rarotongan Resort today. We had heard it was a great place to snorkel, and was it ever! It was fantastic. The water was clear and warm and the fish were plentiful and very colorful and large. Blue fish, yellow & black striped fish, green fish, yellow fish, black fish and the list goes on. I even saw one black one with a green stripe around it's body. Beautiful. We swam for a long while and then went to the pool and chatted with our boys for a while on Facebook. I love Facebook. It has been a life-saver on this trip. We've been able to chat with many of our friends at the church. It has kept up connected. We went to Indian food tonight for dinner. We love Indian food and have decided somebody needs to open one up in Coos Bay. we'll do our best to keep up with the blog for the remainder of this trip, but it might be a few days in between. No worries, though, we'll be home next week and make you all look at our pictures and home movies! It'll be great.

Day 14, Rarotonga.

That dot in the middle of the picture is Debbie snorkeling

Tokerau Jim showing us how he carves shells

Another day in Paradise. We got up and rode to Toke's place of business and got to watch him and his employees carve shells. It was fascinating work. We videotaped a bit, but the humidity affects our camera sometimes so we just got a few minutes worth and a few pictures. We bought a few gifts there also. Then we decided to pick up some grilled fish to go and changed into swimming "togs", got our snorkels and headed out to do some swimming. Visibility was better today and we got to see a lot of fish, tiny ones but colorful. It was a fun day and refreshing since it was again, hot, hot, hot. Ron spoke at the Men's Cell group tonight which was held here at Murray's house. Looks like they had a full house too. Nancy and I went to the Pacific Island Resort, got a table on the beach and had a fruit smoothie while listening to the most beautiful live music, very calming relaxing island tunes. It was beautiful, so romantic and there we were, two women sitting together! Oh well, next time I go I'll take Ron with me.

Day 13, Rarotonga

That's a thunderstorm blowing onto the Island.

The waterfall. A bunch of people had been on a four-wheeling tour and stopped to swim.

This is the pulpit with the church's logo.

Murray's birthday gift.

Hello again. It's Monday, and the weather has been hot, hot, hot. This morning Ron and I set out on a mission to hunt down a pair of shorts for Ron. He's very particular and the shopping is very limited, so it was more of a hunt than a shop. But we hit every store/shop on the Island in the search. It was really more of an excuse to explore. We saw people from the church, went to some of their shops, stopped in at this most amazing waterfall and had lunch at one of the resorts, The Rarotongan. We outran a thunder storm at one point, which is when we ducked into the resort and had lunch while we waited out the storm. It was a pleasant morning. We're really getting ready to come home, which of course we can't until this time next week, but we're emotionally already home. We've been chatting with our kids nearly every day and missing them and the grandkids a lot. Now it's a countdown until we can go home, but that's not to say that we aren't having a good time and enjoying ourselves because we really are. We had a great evening tonight. It was Murray's 56th birthday and Nancy organized a dinner for the key leadership in the new church to surprise him at his favorite restaurant. It was a great night, full of fun and laughter and great food. Nancy gave him a sprounting coconut tree for a gift, which is the logo for the new church. It represent new life. That's what he wanted. One of the guys in the church owns a Black Pearl shop and he engraves them with dental tools, some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen. His name is Toke and he engraved a key chain with the coconut logo on it for Murray. He was thrilled. It was a late night and we just got home at 10:30. We're on the deck getting attacked by the "mossies" so we'll go for tonight. Talk again tomorrow!

Day 12, Sunday in Rarotonga.

What a great day. Nancy drove in early in the car so all the rest of us rode to church on the scooters/cycles, never did that before. Another first, Ron wore shorts and sandals to church. He's scheduled to preach next Friday and Saturday nights, and he's wondering if he can preach in shorts. Not that it's not allowed, they all do it, but he just doesn't know if HE can do it. We had about 100 in church today, which is their all time record, but they are expecting even more by next Sunday after a two page interview with pictures runs in the local paper next Saturday. Nancy asked the YWAM youth to run the kids program today and next weekend. They were pretty overwhelmed, they expected 8-10 kids and there were about 30, in a hot upstairs room with only a few fans, and it was HOT today. About 34 (98 F) when we got home from church. I guess February is their hottest month here, wish we had known that before agreeing to come over! Oh well, we would have come anyway. When "Dad" calls, you come a'runnin'. Worship was great, even without a keyboard and a female lead, I don't get it, but I guess it can happen. They had about 30 visitors this morning, which was very exciting. No ministry today, Murray preached and prayed a dedication for their new building and told everyone they would be prayed for next weekend during the "Fresh Revivial Meetings". Ron and I are speaking at the Men's (Tues) and Women's (Wed) cell meetings this week to be held here at Murray's house. That should be fun. We ate lunch at Sails again, they were having a remote control sailboat race right in front of the restaurant and lots of people with their kids were swimming and canoeing. It was a beautiful afternoon. As it started cooling off, after calling Chloe & Alley and talking for just a few minutes, we rode around the Island as the sun was setting. We stopped every now and then and just enjoyed the view. What a great day.

Day 11, Rarotonga.

Rugby at Muri Beach

Ron posing with Fairy Floss (cotton candy)

Ron at the Flying Boat

Murray and Nancy at the Flying Boat

Tuna Fish

Hello everyone. Today was Saturday, Day 11 of our South Pacific Island Adventure. We were up this morning scootering to the Saturday Market, where you can buy fresh fruit (bananas on the stalk), food, crafts, etc. etc. Fun day. I bought a great bag and Ron had breakfast, a sausage roll. Then we rode around the island, which about 25 miles and ended up back in town for a stroll through the shops. Soon after lunch at the Flying Boat for fish & chips (Parrot fish is great), we headed to the church for final preparations for the big opening day. We placed huge pots of palms and other plants around the building, the worship team practiced, one lady made huge arrangements of tropical plants for the lobby, Ron, Kerry & Murray hung the screen from the ceiling and just lots of things were accomplished. We're ready for tomorrow. There are 120 chairs set up, so it will be exciting to see how many are filled. There was a good write up in the local paper, they spelled Oregon (O r e g a n) wrong but they got our names right and that's all that matters. Murray is preaching the opening service and we will be speaking during the Fresh Revival Services on Friday &/or Saturday next week. (Murray really hasn't told us yet). Murray and Ron got in on the last of a rugby game and then met us for dinner at a gourmet hamburger place. Ron ate a Chicken, Bacon & Banana Sandwich! He said it was great, he wants bananas on all his chicken now. We're back home now listening to the waves and Ron is having a cuppa' tea, Earl Grey with a splash of milk and raw sugar. He's really into the culture. Have a great Sunday, we know we will.

Day 10, Rarotonga.

Debbie at our favorite fish and chip place,

we remember this when Jason and Kara and Chloe

were with us a few years ago. Remember?

This is Muri Beach, the best place to cool off and just swim,

Just a mile down the road is Fruit of Rarotonga the best place to snorkel

There are canoes everywhere

There are palm trees everywhere

Today dawned beautifully. It rained so hard through the night it woke us up, but today was beautifully warm and dry (well, as dry as this humidity allows). I spent the morning doing laundry. There's no dryer (electricity is extremely expensive), so we hang everything up on the line so it took a while to finish. By noon, Ron and the other guys were back and we took off scootering toward town for a lunch of grilled fish and chips on the water. We spent some time in town and then off to snorkel at Muri Beach and Fruits of Rarotonga. Water was still a little cloudy we guessed due to the heavy rains, so we'll try it again tomorrow. It's fun anyway, the water is so warm. Murray has been working every day since he's been here to get the church officially recognized. The letter he got earlier today said he still wasn't legal and that if we met this weekend we would be gathering illegally. He's worked for two years to get all of this done, but one of the government officials seems to be out for him. Later we got word from that man's boss that we are indeed legal until March 15 and they will continue to work on getting a permanent status. So, all is well afterall. Plans are going well for the opening day service. Advertisements are getting out, the newspaper is going to interview Murray and Nancy, etc. They've been painting and cleaning, trying to finish the new sign, bringing in plantings and pots and things to beautify the warehouse type building. So, all is going well. Tomorrow is market day and we plan to go early to get fresh fish, fruits and vegetables. It's so fun being here.

Day 9, Rarotonga.

Today was a stormy, rainy slow type of day. Ron and Murray left for breakfast at 8 and we didn't see them again until lunchtime. They worked at the church all morning, setting up some more PA equipment in preparation for the Opening Sunday of the
church this weekend. The main worship leader from Christchurch, Kerry, came in this afternoon to work with the church on worship. I hope to get in on some of that training. It stormed most of the morning,raining so hard it was hard to hear normal conversation. But it cleared up a little so Nancy and I got a little bored and decided to take off on the scooters and head into the little town, Avarua, which is just about 10 minutes away. We shopped a little and then met the boys and the pastors of Celebration on the Rock, Tony & Simone, for lunch. In the afternoon, the skies cleared and the sun came out so Ron and I decided to do some snorkeling. We got everything together and the wind started blowing. It felt like a hurricane came through, black clouds blew in quickly and we thought "We'll outrun this" and we headed around the Island to a place called Fruits of Rarotonga, which is the best snorkeling on the island. Well, we didn't quite outrun it, but it didn't pour down on us either. The wind was whipping things off the trees and across the road. It wasn't the safest ride we had taken. I must have run into a bee or hornet, it stung me on the thigh and I was swatting it and rubbing my leg while still driving that scooter! Told you I was awesome on a scooter. We had a late dinner out tonight for a change at a restaurant called Sails which is in Muri Beach, probably the most beautiful beach on the island. The weather tonight was perfect. The meal was delicious. Ron had a trio of fish, swordfish, Broadbill and Tuna and I had curried octopus, yummm. I also tried a local delicacy, Poke, which is Banana that's boiled first and then baked in coconut cream. Delicious! Nancy's going to make it one night so that I can see how to do it. That's it for today. Another beautiful day in Paradise. The only problem we're having is how much we're missing the kids and grandkids.

Day 8, Rarotonga.

We started the morning with a bike ride to the breakfast cafe. Nancy and I rode, going along just fine until...I hit the brakes in the rock parking lot and stopped...on a dime...and ended up in the rocks. Ron said I was the biggest accident on the island this morning! I wasn't, I don't think anyway. But, don't worry,I'm okay. It did give me an excuse to not have to ride the bike anymore this week. So, we directly went and rented two scooters! It's been a hoot!
Alert! Ron ate a tuna sandwich today. He says it's different than the tuna at home, but I think he folded under pressure.
So that's the way the morning and early afternoon went. This evening we went to church for a barbeque and a short service. That was great. It's very exciting to see a church in its infancy but yet so strong. There are so many business owners in the group. Today we visited one of them at his black pearl shop where he carves images on the pearls and on shells, etc. Beautiful work. I'm going back tomorrow to buy something, because I'm working on being a good role model as an international shopper. Well, we're home now, sitting on the deck listening to the waves and visiting with Murray and Nancy. It's been a good day.

Day 7, Rarotonga.

It's Tuesday, again. We left Christchurch at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday and arrived in Raro at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning. Go figure! We arrived 17 hours earlier than when we left. Well, what can I say. We're on a gorgeous Pacific Island with good friends, the trade winds are a'blowin' and Nancy has her own espresso machine! We must be living right!
We got to bed around 4:30 this morning and slept til about 9:30, and were awakened by th Air Condition guys getting ready to fit our bedroom with a AC unit. Praise God! It's been pretty hot and humid today, but not unbearable. We took a look at the new church today. It's directly across the street from the airport and right on the ocean, of course.

Everything here is on the ocean. Great location, great building. The boys have been hard at work getting it ready for the grand opening this weekend. We'll have pictures of it tomorrow. We're having a barbeque at the church with everyone tomorrow evening.
We brought over from Christchurch 2 large boxes of PA equipment for the new church, so Ron and Murray spent most of the day setting that up.
We had lunch at a cafe owned by one of the church members. Beautiful. Ron and Murray had raw fish marinated in lime and coconut. Loved it.
We're contemplating "tea" right now. Nancy and I walked down to another member's home and hydroponic vegetable business and got greens for dinner.
We love it here, it's like a dream.

Day 6, Christchurch.

Last day here, we're off to Rarotonga tonight and arrive there in the middle of the night. Today we drove about an hour and a half to Akaroa. Nice drive, curvy mountain roads and no railings! The valley, or volcanic crater!, was beautiful. It's the oldest town around, settled by the French so all the streets are Rue ??something. Charming little village. We had lunch by the water. The food here wouldn't even have to taste good, it's soooo pretty. But it does taste wonderful too.

Day 5, Christchurch.

Today, we finally made it to the Botanical Gardens downtown. They were beautiful, the roses and dahlias were in full bloom. There were lots of boaters "punting" down the Avon River which winds through the park. We had a good walk and then.. .it was on to the Northlands Mall where we enjoyed a lunch of delicious Indian food and shopped at The Warehouse, NZ's equivalent of Wal Mart.

It was very warm today, 34 or translated, about 98 degrees. We headed back to the house for a little rest before having a lovely barbeque dinner with Natasha & Jonathan Cargill and Corey and Renee Watkinson and all of their children. We had steak, kebabs, sausages and venison. Natasha even baked a Pavlova with fresh raspberries on it. Beautiful and delicious. We enjoyed the warm evening visiting, exchanging stories, and you know Ron, he can story with the best of them! It's been a great visit from the start. Tomorrow evening we head to Raro.