Kia ora e te whānau
Carol and I headed down to Queenstown for a few days last week – we hadn’t been out of town over the summer, so wanted to “hit the road” and get some fresh air, and we reckoned that we had a small window of opportunity before the pandemic spread in that direction. That proved to be the case – Queenstown was still “open” for visitors (less so this week, we understand). We also arrived at the same time as the super rugby teams also were re-locating to the safety of the deep south of the country – which meant we felt super-safe to be there! (Having watched the Highlanders’ squad and hangers-on unloading all their equipment for the coming weeks from a very large truck, it kind of looked as if they are planning a siege!)
It’s a very long time since we were last in Queenstown – so we have now “done” the Earnslaw, we have done the gondola, and we have done the luge. And we have noted what we want to look at doing next time. It was an enjoyable break, all too short, but the batteries were duly recharged!
We have been thinking of you all a lot this week, with the growing “threat” of COVID in the community, with the changes to the Traffic Light settings (“Phase Two”) and with increasing numbers of you working at home, or in split shifts, juggling children and activities and different routines. Interesting times?! Please let any of the staff team know if we can help in any way – or encourage you, or pray for you. We are here to help in any way we can.
I hope that you’re aware what a well-stocked freezer we now have at 51 Ilam Road – thanks to a whole range of awesome people who have been rolling up their sleeves and cooking. We are feeling well-prepared to provide support where we can.
With all the changes going on, with an updated set of Guidelines for churches meeting at Traffic Light Red, and with the Phase Two Guidelines around close and casual contacts, we have made the decision to move to our “Ilam in Groups” setting for the services over the coming weeks. Mostly, we realise that if we were meeting as a group of 100, and someone within the group unknowingly had COVID, then we would all have to isolate for a week – which would be challenging for lots of people. If we’re meeting in smaller groups then our contacts are also smaller. We feel this is safer. (We had originally planned a possible outdoor service for this coming Sunday – however, the Met service long range weather forecast changed 3 times between Monday and Wednesday, so we had no certainty at all about whether an outdoor meeting was even feasible – planning for outdoors isn’t easy!)
It’s the start of the university year, of course. We’re still intending to try to develop a student focus for the year, building on those students who already identify Ilam as their “home” in some way. We’ll be developing a student “hub” based around 51 Ilam Road over the coming weeks – at least, for Sundays. If you’re keen to be involved, or to keep track of what we’re doing, please get in contact with Helen or with me.
Keep in touch, especially with comments, thoughts or ideas for the weeks ahead. Keep in touch with each other, too – it’s a great time of year for meeting up outdoors for impromptu picnics or BBQ’s!
Have a great week
Ngā mihi
Peter