As with most natural disasters, the Christchurch Earthquake made world headlines as the drama unfolded. People all over the world saw the devastating effects on television and internet news, or heard about it on the radio. However, like all such events, the news lenses quickly move on to the next horrific event (in our case, the Japan Tsunami which was astronomically more devastating than what we experienced here) and we can easily forget that the aftermath of such a disaster can last for years upon years. Oddly enough, the real story of disaster isn’t the destructive event itself, but the human spirit that rises up to put things back together when it’s over.

Even now as Irene pounds the East Coast of the USA, Chili, Haiti, Samoa, Pakistan, Japan, New Orleans, Joplin, and many other disaster-ravaged locations are still fully consumed with recovery and rebuilding efforts and are as much as decades away from “life as usual”. Great stories of resilience and resolution typically go completely unnoticed by the world’s “watchful eye”. Christchurch is no exception.

Having lived in a veritable “war zone” the last 6 months has given us a much better understanding and appreciation for what others have gone through and are still going through.

And we’ve got it easy compared to most.

We still have a roof over our heads, running water, electricity, and as of 2 days ago, flushing toilets (finally!). Even from our own earthquake ravaged city, it’s still hard to imagine some of the difficulty those in Japan and other places are dealing with. It makes you think twice when a large-scale news event stops making headlines… makes you think about the long and arduous story people are still trudging out just to get back to that now elusive “normal”. It’s no easy process and it definitely doesn’t stop when the camera crews and journalists skip town chasing the next big story.

I want to be careful not to become a disaster voyeur. It’s something I can easily slip into these days – almost excitedly waiting for the next “crazy disaster” to entertain me. I wonder if we’ve all grown tired of the fictitious disasters of film and television and become overly intrigued with the far-too-real misfortune of others…

Something to consider as we watch Irene roll up the East Coast in all it’s fury.

We’re regularly asked by friends and family outside of NZ “Is life back to normal yet?” – and the answer, unfortunately, is “absolutely not”. Rather than going into much detail about the many ways in which life in Christchurch has become difficult and disheartening, I’d like to direct your attention to a recent photo gallery with revealing images from around the city – mostly from the “red zone” (the central city are which remains closed still, 6 months after the “big one” – and will likely remain closed another 4-6 months). At this point 500 of the just over 4,000 buildings in the central business district (CBD) are confirmed to be totally demolished – roughly 12% of the structural make-up of the city. This number is likely to increase as city rebuilding plans are introduced.

Have a look at the gallery here.

Thank you guys for keeping up with us and for putting up with our constant chatter about “earthquake this” and “aftershock that”. I’m sure it can get quite annoying… but I suppose if you DO get annoyed, just try to channel that feeling into imagining what it’s like living in a house with no flushing toilets for 6 months. Haha!

A huge whopping thank you for your heart-felt GENEROSITY toward us since the Feb quake.

When we announced that Noah would be taking time off from his part-time job we were overwhelmed by the response of generosity. You sustained us, encouraged us, fed us, and blessed us. We are so thankful.

We wanted to update you that Noah has started up at his previous part-time job working from project to project. This is neither full-time or part-time. It’s a freelance position. It was a great blessing for Noah to be free from Feb 22 until now to be able to handle issues at the house, volunteer, meet with people, host events, spend time with guests, etc.. without the pressures of working.

At this time we have decided that it’s good timing for him to return to a freelance position so that his hours are flexible. But this means our income will still be unsteady. We are not in the same need for financial support as earlier but we welcome anything you have to give as it frees up time to engage in “ministry”. Thank you for loving us in this way. I can’t comprehend it and want to hug each of you and thank you face to face. We ask God to return your blessing doubly.

We are so grateful for your compassion and prayers for us during this wild ride!
Thank you for lifting us up! I’ll always remember the days following the quake
that I could literally feel the difference… your prayers totally covered us and helped us.
We appreciate you!!!!

If you are interested, Kate is selling photograph card sets that have stitching embellishments.
These are photos she took around NZ. Go here to check them out + order!

In Christ ~ K + N

Hi Friends + Family!

Wow, so many things have been happening in 2011 around the world. I don’t think anyone hasn’t taken note of all the unusual activity. The earth is definitely rumbling and societies are going through shifts. The times are changing. That’s for sure.

As you think on all the issues in the world, it’s hard to process it all. We don’t blame you for being sick of hearing about all our earthquake drama! But if you think of us, please pray around the following topics:

1. That God would impart strength, resilience and revelation to His followers in this season of upheaval in Christchurch. Everyone is feeling a bit defeated.

2. That Christians would step up to be used to bring the good news!

3. That the folks who don’t know the Lord yet would be blessed with His peace and revelation… and that God would open hearts, water the soil, and prepare this land for revival.

For us, we ask for prayers about strength, resilience, fortitude, revelation, protection, health, emotional stability, etc.

Thank you so much.
We heart you.

Here is some footage from Monday’s 6.3 quake.

You can read all about the recent quakes we had on June 13, here at Kate’s blog.

Included are photos + video footage.

This TV special was recently posted online. As the website is NOT ACCESSIBLE in the USA, you can click HERE to download and watch it. (Or if you’re in NZ, just click the image.)

It features a great look into what happened during the first few days after the quake, from the point of view of a police crew that came into help from out of town. Please have a look. It’s hard for us to watch since every shot is a recognizable place/landmark. We heart Christchurch!!

An article in the paper yesterday announced that 20,000 homes should be able to flush their toilets today (out of the 30,000 homes that have been using port-a-loos and chemical toilets), leaving 10,000 homes still waiting for repairs. It’s been a massive job and we appreciate all the work by our city to get things working. (Sadly we are not one of the lucky homes! Below is a pic of Noah about to clean out our chem toilet!)

We enjoyed a weekend away in Waikanae and Wellington for an organic church gathering. It was a great time to get to know others who are pursing home church/cafe church/missional church around New Zealand. Update on that coming soon.

But we arrived home to some damages because there was a 5.3 quake while we were away.

I write a lot of snail mail. But you can’t post mail from your home here. The mail carriers (posties) only deliver mail, so I’ve gotten to know my neighborhood post shop well! Sometimes it’s once a week that I pop down to the corner store to buy stamps or send off a package. It’s a haberdashery (new word for me… but they sell knitting and sewing materials, do alterations and run a little post shop.) So they have gotten to know me as the American girl who always sends out mail.

With the earthquake, many buildings/homes/businesses were destroyed. This shop is still standing at the moment… but all of it’s contents were thrown on the ground. Mud came into part of the store and the two front walls are leaning dangerously…

The other day I walked by and saw the owners were finally there attempting to clean. I hadn’t seen them inside since before the quake in February. I talked to the owner, Jane, and offered help. She said they hadn’t come in yet because of their own home damages and because she had lost three friends in the earthquake—the recovery and grief had been too much to worry about the store. (She lost those friends from her old work place, in one of the collapsed buildings… tragic. The woman who replaced her there, died.) It’s been hard for her knowing this… dealing with the grief of that in addition to the loss of much at home and at the store…

Today Jane called me, saying they did need help today, packing up merchandise. They have not been “red stickered” yet, which means a building/home is “Unsafe. No one can enter premises”, but they are due for inspection this upcoming week… and they think they will be “Red stickered” due to the leaning walls. So I went up to help pack up what wasn’t destroyed by mud and broken glass.

Please pray for Jane and her husband. They have been hit badly… pray for the Lord to speak through me at this time. It was great to be able to help folks on the block… Since the earthquake, we’ve been able to reach out to them, the guys at the Indian take-away shop (next to the post shop), some of the school staff, and some neighbors. We are hoping to make a difference with the immediate neighbors…. and continue to love them and help them in any way we can. I think I can get overwhelmed by the enormous need in the city but if we all do our little part in our corner of the city, it makes a big difference collectively.

Thanks for praying about this.

Here is some footage from around our block…