Dear family, brethren, and friends,

I spent part of Friday preparing to teach the next lesson and also catching up on some email.  Abner took off work in the mid-afternoon so we could hike five miles up and around the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean which took an hour and a half.  The footpath winds through heavy bush areas, and up and down steep steps, to Kohi Point for a panoramic view of the ocean’s blue-green waters and Whale Island in the distance.  The tui birds make the bush area sound like a jungle with its “complicated mix of tuneful notes interspersed with coughs, grunts, and wheezes” (http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/tui  – see the beautiful birds at that site,  & then hear the sounds at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk02PJBUODE).  It makes you wonder if a python will appear around the next bend, but fortunately there are no snakes in New Zealand.

We returned home, cleaned up, and by 6:30 P.M. arrived at the home of Joseph and Fe Gariando.  These faithful saints were our hosts as 11 people studied about “New Beginnings in Christ” (Ps. 118:18-20).  There were good questions and discussion about the meaning of “the kingdom of God,” when it was established, instrumental music in worship, and when we need to be baptized or even re-baptized.  Our study lasted from 7:30-9:30.  Later a young lady raised Catholic who admitted she knew nothing about the Bible said she was learning a lot from attending sessions like this.  The seed of God’s kingdom is being planted in Whakatane!

As soon as I awoke Saturday morning, I studied the sermon planned for tonight because a full day of activities had been planned.  Joseph, Fe, and their son E.J. came to accompany us to a farm to pick strawberries.  The owner allows people who pick their own berries to eat as many as they want without charge while picking!  Oh, my, these strawberries were so ripe and sweet they were addictive!

After lunch I did some more work, rested, and took a walk for exercise.  When I returned from walking, the Ronnie Salunga family from Auckland had arrived with Kyle, a 19 year old son of Abner and Lani.  Other Christians and friends began arriving and 21 of us went to the ocean to baptize Kyle.  I presented a short lesson on the shore about the importance of Kyle’s decision to obey the gospel and about the meaning of the confession made before baptism that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  Kyle confessed his faith in Christ, then Abner and I baptized him in the ocean.  The tide was out but waves were rolling in, so I had him sit down and stretch out his legs, then I laid him back as the water deepen just after a wave.  Another wave came quickly and covered Kyle just as we immersed him, and it knocked me down, but we got the job done.  Before leaving the beach, we offered a prayer of great thanksgiving and asked God to bless and guide Kyle as he continues to grow in His service to God.

Kyle’s older brother, Kenneth, recorded the whole event by the use of a drone.  That is the first time I have ever heard of that being done, and the quality of Kenneth’s work is professional.

We came home for supper and celebrated Leandro Dalisay’s 32nd birthday, then at 8:00 P.M. I presented a study of Matthew 16:13-19 entitled “When Peter Confessed Christ.”  Our audience included people from backgrounds in several religions ranging from Catholic to Pentecostal to Baptist.  Everyone was very attentive as I explained the history of how Christ established his church in Acts 2 and how men later departed from the original gospel and formed Catholicism and denominational bodies.

This Lord’s Day 17 precious souls assembled in the Salanguit’s home to worship God in spirit and in truth including Stephen and Jane Meredith, Kiwi saints who drove an hour to join the worship.  During the Bible study period we considered “The Glory of God” as proclaimed in Psalm 19.  Our focus during the worship hour was on “The Resurrection of Christ” in Mark 16.  This sermon included an explanation of the purpose of miracles to confirm the truth and the duration which was limited to the first century.  I explained that modern “miracle crusades” are really money crusades.  Jesus and the Apostles never collected money when they performed miracles.  Our Pentecostal visitor said she understood the point.  The church has been having an evening worship for saints working on dairy farms and for shift workers at a retirement home where several saints work, but I was not able to stay for that service.

We went out for a delicious lunch and savored our time together knowing it was coming to an end soon.  After returning to Abner’s house to prepare for the trip back to Auckland, I gathered everyone to encourage, to admonish, and to challenge them to press toward the mark for the final reward in heaven.

Our final stop on the way out of Whakatane was at a farm which raises all sorts of berries and makes homemade ice cream from them – I had creamy delightful blueberry.  A sign on the wall says, “Unattended children will be given expresso and a free kitten.”   Oddly enough, I did not see a single unattended child!

It took five hours for Ronnie Salunga to drive us back to Auckland where we stopped for supper about 9:00 P.M. at a McDonald’s.  I ordered a Loaded Lettuce Angus Burger, thinking the name indicated lettuce and tomato.  It turned out to be an Angus burger wrapped in a huge piece of lettuce without bread and the beef was adorned with an egg and beet salsa or relish.  Generally I am not a big McDonald’s fan, but that burger was 100% great.

This brings my 8th trip to preach in New Zealand to its conclusion (8th time to work with the saints in Auckland, 4th time to work with the saints in Whakatane).  The warm and genuine hospitality of the Salunga and the Salanguit families is uplifting, along with the faith, hope, and love shown by all the saints.  I have never been more encouraged by the progress and the potential of these two congregations.  These brethren are truly committed to the work, trusting God to help them, and He surely will continue to give the increase to His name’s honor and glory!  Let us keep the saints in New Zealand in our prayers.

Please pray for me as I prepare for an all-night flight to Manila to preach for the next week.  I daily pray for Donna, our children’s families, and all the saints back home as well as saints around the world.  May God bless us all as we press forward serving Him.

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
http://www.HebronChurchOfChrist.com
http://www.biblework.com
http://www.truthmagazine.com
http://www.CEIbooks.com