13/3/20 is a date which will live in personal infamy - and happy glory - for the rest of our lives (Deborah's & mine). "Sure", I thought, "I could get locked out of the country - but nobody's shut down borders in decades, right?!?!"
Right. Hardly six days after flying to the UK and I was officially not welcome back to NZ, which meant a forced farewell digitally to the youth & young adults, and some of you via email. It meant 193 days of separation for Deborah and I, although with our WhatsApp & video chats sometimes it didn't seem such a distance. Who knew that COVID would shut down theatres, some for good, giving churches the chance to buy a permanent home for the first time? Who knew that shops & eateries would close far earlier than normal business would allow, giving families more time together, and more time for relaxing? Little did we think at the outset that it would also mean such a drastic reduction in construction projects, such as Deborah's company experienced that led to restructuring & her redundancy, which meant the Lord closing a door & allowing another to open so she could fly to me. Well, Deborah and I, now reunited in America with me working at ALDI (grocery) and her playing homemaker for a wee bit, get the chance to dip our toes into married life in the midst of all this beautiful mess. There is a greenway nearby for walks, a gym Deborah can utilize during business hours at the apartment complex, and thankfully full-time hours for me at work. We had the chance this past weekend (Oct. 24) to go help my home church, Vizion, paint it's first building which, prayerfully, will be open for it's first service 13/12/20. 9 months after my crushing departure from NZ (yes, I'm dramatic, but it really was crushing for a while), we will get to participate in the birth of something incredibly strategic in the local church here in CLT: after Vizion has been "homeless" & meeting in a school gym for 8 years, our ministry will finally have a home to make it's own! And you know what? During all of this COVID mess, we've still been able to fundraise over US$147k - because so many recognize God is still in control & on the throne. Regardless of if we're successful in returning over the coming holiday season to NZ as is our hope - God will still be in control, in the fire next to us, and we're so very joyful to be together - married - and moving forward in the covenant life we have intentionally set ourselves to. We'll share video & photos once we can (that's another drama!) - for now, nga mihi maioha (thank you with much appreciation!) for your love, prayers & well wishes - and we hope to see you Kiwis in the new year!!! ~Hornet & Bee Thomas & Deborah
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Today, I'm sharing some testimony with you all. Testifying of the faithfulness of our God, Yahweh, of His extreme kindness and also of His correction - for "the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His child (Hebrews 12:6)." When I shared with several close friends and mentors in November and December of 2016 that I had had a word spoken over my life - that the coming year would be a year of transition - none of them hesitated in agreeing. We discussed the guiding light that has been pushing me towards more and more time in missions abroad, the redeeming and restoring nature of God's goodness that He has poured into my life by boatloads and buckets as times have called for it, and about the fact that the skills and training I've had could point in a pretty wide array of directions ... yet, His hand has been keeping me involved in supporting and helping build out the capacities of the local church in various locales around Terra. Looking through how 2016 ended and 2017 began, piecing together healing and restoration from Uganda to New Zealand back to Charlotte, I've had to pay particular attention to another word that was spoken over me: "don't get bogged down, while back in Charlotte. Keep your head up and eyes focused forward because it won't be long before you're called to move on again." I didn't share that word with many people, rather, I entrusted that knowledge to a few select friends and mentors, and waited to see what the Lord would do. During my time back in Charlotte, I made visits to several churches including the one I called home before getting into missions, yet, nothing felt like where I was to be drinking from the fount of everlasting life. I knew I needed to check back into another local church, Vizion, which I have known since it's pre-planting as an on-campus ministry exclusively at UNC Charlotte. The Holy Spirit moved on me and I knew then, that this is the local church I am to be plugged into while in Charlotte, for however long that will be, and once I return from whatever place I'm taken to next that I'll be back at Vizion in the long-term. I spoke with the Pastor, an amazing vessel of the Lord named Tyson, and explained what I felt led in regarding being at Vizion, while not knowing how long I'd be around. He encouraged me to follow that leading and take the steps towards becoming a member - the first time I've officially been a member of a local church in nearly 12 years. He also invited me to share the experience and wisdom I've been entrusted with over these past five years with the outreach connect group leadership, who then invited me to speak to their group and to get a bit more involved as the year progresses. In the background of all of this, there was a bit more healing and restoration that needed to take place, that for a period I had closed myself off to. Yet, the Lord is faithful still, and He spoke through a sermon at Vizion encouraging us to not avoid awkward conversations, for in them a lot of healing and restoration - which, after all, is the mission entrusted to us as His disciples ( 2 Cor. 5:18-19 ) - can and will take place. After a couple of weeks, the conversation I had avoided for so long provided an opportunity to not only get a measure of restoration poured out, but it also released blessing and opened the door for the next step in my journey. Enter #MovingForward2017. As of August 2017, I'm now proceeding with a process which will hopefully see me return to New Zealand for two to three years working specifically in ministry outreach and evangelism. There are several pieces to this puzzle that need to be worked through, such as the financial support and also the Religious Work Visa, so there's no way to pin down a time frame. However, as information becomes available, I'll be sure to update those who choose to read my blog and stay up to date with what's what and where in my wandering and traveling, working as opportunities present themselves to further the Kingdom of God. Here's some info for now :) While I'm here, on the subject of #MovingForward2017, I will take a moment to publicly say with the platform I've been given that no form of racism is acceptable, and you will not find me participating in nor tolerating it. Skin tones and hair types and accents do not define our capacity for love, kindness, compassion, and generosity - the only thing we can truly take measure of a human by is their reactions, for what matters the most in our humanity is how we choose to react to what happens (both around us and caused by us, regardless of how much control we have over it) moment by moment and how those reactions compound over a lifetime. As I head into the next leg of this race that has been set before me, I would encourage any believer of Jesus to concentrate on living out the life we are to live as stated in John 13:35 - "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Those who haven't tasted and seen that the Great I Am is a "good, good Father", I would challenge you to listen to what Propaganda has to say in this quick clip.
Living in New Zealand comes with risks, everyone knows it. You just get to pick your risks.
You could end up with your capital split into seven islands... ...you could have the GPS coordinates for your home or work permanently shifted to a new location... ...or you could end up vaporized or maybe just buried under hundreds of feet of what's essentially lava flows. "the Taupō eruption of 1,800 years ago, which is still considered the most-violent (eruption) known in the world in the last 5,000 years. But even that pales when compared with the Oruanui eruption of 26,500 years ago, which first helped form Lake Taupō.
To show my USA friends how large an 84 mile radius might reach if it were to go from Charlotte outwards, just look what lies within an 84 mile reach of the #QueenCity...
84 miles takes you to Columbia or nearly to Greenville, SC; to Greensboro, Boone, or Laurinburg, NC; and almost to the Virginia border at Mt. Airy, NC.
However, we all choose to live here. Maybe it's the sunsets...
...maybe it's the tramping (hiking for you non-Kiwis)...
...maybe, it's the whitewater rafting...
...or maybe, it's the resting scenes found in hundreds of miles of rivers, hiking paths, beaches and other spots to just hang out.
Whatever it is, Aotearoa (The Land of the Long White Cloud) beckons to a part of us that, those who feel it, simply must answer to.
Risks and all. |
#WhimsyAuthorA southern guy who's been #TraversingTerra for four + years now. Missions. Care. Ministry. Adventure. Rafting. Wandering. Arch
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