Kia Ora again!

Day 9: Christchurch, Sunday, 12th July

This morning I woke up and got ready for church. I went with Amy and Joe to Grace church down near the city center (I think). It was an interesting service; it reminded me of a place like Vineyard in Champaign. Amy and Joe’s friends, Tony and Kelsey and then Candace and Jarred, made some interesting comments that I agree with. It seemed like the main message was that, if you had someone sick or you yourself were sick, or you knew of someone who was “unsaved,” it was because you weren’t praying hard enough or fasting long enough. Someone also commented on the worship; it was mostly just two songs played over and over again. I really like worship and would have preferred more variety, as did some of the people I was with. The sermon was on David and Goliath, and I noticed that the first half of the sermon, he wasn’t even preaching on anything from the Bible. Instead, it was all about his dreams that he believes were from God, telling him that the church was going to be facing a Goliath in the near future. The sermon was good though and very focused on DOING, not just sitting. It was really interesting though. I don’t think it’s a church that I would attend regularly, but it was definitely one that could have made it back in the States. I guess it’s one of the big (albeit few) churches here, and a lot of churches around here are similar to it. I guess we’ll see what next weekend holds. Anyways, after that we all went to an international market near the city center. We had a cheap meal that was delicious. It was similar to a gyro, but mine was made with chicken instead of lamb, although lamb was an option. It was hard to eat but very tasty. They also had other little places for food that reminded me of a carnival. Next week I may try Thai food, or stick to Chinese. After grabbing some hot chocolate/coffee, Joe and Amy and their friends dropped me off as they headed to Dunedin for the next few days…
The weather has been relatively nice since I’ve been in Christchurch; at least it’s not really rained. Yesterday was rather chilly, as is today, but the sun’s been shining, so that’s encouraging. Today I think I’m going to spend some time in the Word and time praying. I’m excited for classes to start tomorrow, but anxious to see how they’ll go. I guess we’ll see!



Day 8: Christchurch, Saturday 11th, July

So I found out that here, the date comes before the month, so I’m trying to change my usual way of dating things to follow Kiwi style instead. Not too much happened today; I talked to Joshua on skype again, which was nice, and then went running. After that I went to the library and tried to check out Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to read before the movie on Wednesday, but didn’t get the chance. So instead, I researched how much it would cost me to travel to Fiji and stay in a hostel; it’s still a lot, so I don’t know if I’ll do it. I’ll probably go to Sydney instead, and get a souvenir for Syd to bring home with her awesome name on it . Anyways, after I left the library, I caught the bus to Riccarton mall and walked around the shops there. I was going to buy some gloves and such, ended up buying a raincoat, and then returned it before I left…oops. I decided it was too thin, and if I was going to spend $100 NZD on a coat then it better be a thicker one that I can start wearing now, rather than have to wait til right before I leave. After a long time walking and browsing, I made it back home to make myself some spaghetti and then watch Harry Potter movies til I fell asleep…only to be woken up multiple times by loud music, my flatmate getting locked out (I think), and someone throwing a computer from a third floor balcony. After 2:30, things settled down and I was able to finally fall back asleep …