Happy New Year! I hope you are well in the Lord and that you enjoyed a blessed and joy-filled time with your families over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Guan and I, together with our children Angela and Nathan, are doing well. As a family, we are deeply grateful for the refreshing and joyful time we have been able to spend together after what was understandably a very busy period leading up to and during Christmas in our church. At the same time, we are very conscious that we will soon be departing this beautiful country and region. As you can imagine, this brings with it mixed emotions: sadness at what we are leaving behind, and excitement for the new place and community that will soon become our home.
With this in mind, we deliberately set aside time over the past few days to make a couple of special day trips – “goodbye trips,” as we came to think of them – knowing that we may not see these places again for a long time unless we intentionally return for a visit. On New Year’s Day, we drove the loop through to Picton (our home for over four years before moving to Blenheim), then along the stunning Queen Charlotte Drive, passing bays we have grown to love. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Anakiwa before continuing through Havelock and back to Blenheim. As we drove, I kept reminding my “passengers” to soak in the views and savour the moment, knowing this would likely be our final drive through these places before our departure overseas.
Our second farewell day trip, on 2 January, was to Kaikōura. We will deeply miss the breathtaking coastal drive there – the vast ocean on one side and the rolling hills on the other. Unfortunately, the weather was wet and cold, so we could not linger long at the seal lookouts along the way. Only a brief lull in the rain allowed us to walk barefoot on the pebbled Kaikōura beach – something I always enjoy as a kind of natural foot massage – before the rain returned and sent us scurrying back to the car. Once again, I encouraged my family to take it all in, knowing it may be many years before we see this place again.
These short journeys reminded us just how blessed we have been to live, work, and serve in this beautiful country and region. We will miss not only this place, but also the beautiful people who have made it home for us.
In our church, we give thanks to God for the blessing of well-attended and meaningful Christmas services. Across the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, and the Christmas Day Family Service, a total of 245 worshippers gathered to celebrate the birth of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. I am deeply grateful to everyone who served in various roles, enabling these services to run smoothly and become a blessing to all who attended. I am also especially thankful to those who responded to my invitation to be part of the choir for the Carols and Christmas Eve services. It was wonderful to see a larger choir and to hear voices lifted joyfully in praise of our newborn King.
Although Christmas Day has now passed, the message of Christmas remains ever-relevant. I would like to share again the Collect from our Christmas Day service, with my heartfelt prayer that it may bring fresh encouragement to you at the beginning of this New Year:
Collect for Christmas Day
Almighty God, on this joyful morning You have shone upon us the light of Your Son Jesus Christ, born for all people and laid in a manger for our salvation. Fill our hearts with wonder, our homes with Your peace, and our lives with the love of Christ our Saviour. As the shepherds once hurried to see Him, may we also come with joy and offer Him our hearts. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The upcoming three Sundays – the first three Sundays of the New Year – will also be my final three Sundays with you. I very much hope you will be able to join us for my family’s farewell Sunday on 18 January, so that we can say goodbye to you in person. If you are unable to attend, please do let me know, and I will try to find another opportunity to say goodbye to you before we leave.
Our family will be departing on Tuesday, 20 January. We will vacate the vicarage in the afternoon and catch the 5.30pm flight from Blenheim to Auckland, staying overnight in Auckland before taking an early morning direct flight to Adelaide on 21 January.
I am grateful to those who have offered practical help with packing and cleaning the vicarage – thank you very much. Most of our household goods were collected three weeks ago for shipping to Adelaide, and what remains are items we will take with us in our luggage. We have now received sufficient offers of help with cleaning, so no further assistance is needed in that regard.
Some have kindly expressed concern about whether we are “sleeping rough,” having heard that our belongings have already been picked up! Please be assured that we are not sleeping on the floor. The single beds in the children’s rooms belong to the vicarage and remain in place, and a queen bed that had been stored in the garage has now been moved into the main bedroom. The vicarage was semi-furnished when we moved in, so several appliances and furnishings that are not ours will of course remain. As a family, we will miss the vicarage – it has been a warm home for us for over four years. We give thanks to God for the privilege of living here, and I am sure Angela and Nathan will carry with them lifelong memories formed in this place.
Please remember my family and me in your prayers during this time of transition. Ministry-wise, an important focus for me in these final three Sundays is the sermons I will be bringing to you. It is the desire of my heart to preach messages that honour our Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen your trust in Him as St Christopher’s goes through this season of change. I would be very grateful for your prayers as I prepare these sermons.
Guan and I are now down to one vehicle, having sold both of our cars. We are deeply thankful to the buyer of our larger vehicle – who is a member of our church – who has kindly allowed us to continue using it until the day we leave. Guan currently uses the car most days for work. This means that pastoral visits requiring travel by car may need some prior arrangement. Please do not let this deter you from getting in touch – if you would like to see me, or if you are aware of someone in need of a pastoral visit (whether from me or another member of our Pastoral Care Team), please let me or the Wardens know. We remain committed to serving our church family.
One task I still need to complete before my departure is my Annual Report for 2025, which will be included in the Parish Annual Reports for the Annual Meeting scheduled for early April this year.
I am also currently preparing, at the request of one of her daughters, to organise and lead a Memorial Service for Denise Winstanley – a long-time and faithful member of our church who moved to Wellington around two years ago to be closer to family and who passed away last year. Her funeral was held in an Anglican church in Wellington. This Memorial Service will give friends and church members in Blenheim who were unable to attend her funeral an opportunity to pay their respects before her ashes are interred at Omaka Cemetery. The Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, 17 January, at 2.00pm at St Christopher’s, with the interment taking place the following afternoon. If you knew Denise, I warmly invite you to attend and support her family.
The vacancy for the next vicar of St Christopher’s has now been widely advertised online. Here is the link:
Please continue to uphold this process in prayer – praying that suitable applications will be received, for wisdom and discernment for those involved in the interviews, and trusting that, in God’s perfect timing, the right person will be appointed to serve as the next minister of St Christopher’s.
A Prayer and Blessing for the New Year
As we step into this New Year together, my prayer for you, dear friends, is that our gracious Lord will draw each one of us ever closer to Himself. May Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and for ever, be your sure foundation, your guiding light, and your abiding hope. May He grant you renewed faith when you feel weary, deep peace when you feel unsettled, and quiet confidence in His loving purposes for you and for our church.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue His good work among us – strengthening our love for God and for one another, uniting us in Christ, and equipping us to live as faithful witnesses to the gospel in our community. May St Christopher’s continue to be a place where the Word of God is honoured, prayer is central, grace is lived out, and the love of Christ is seen and shared.
May the Lord bless you and keep you in this New Year. May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace – now and always, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
