Part of the family

Sunday 28th. Decided to go into Havelock for church this morning. It was a fairly small traditional style church but with comfortable chairs, overhead projector, keyboard, guitar and violin. But not a young congregation - average age 50. (Brigid says that there were some children there as well.) 

We started off with worship songs, some of which we knew and some we didn't. There was open prayer and the minister, who also played the violin, gave a teaching on Romans 5. They have been working through Romans and even though there were a few visitors he continued with the teaching. I suppose there were about 40 people there for the service. After that, into the hall for tea, coffee, homemade scones and cakes - the kiwis do like their food. We were also invited to go along to their weekly barbecue nearby in Canvastown. 

As I said, we stayed for tea but then had a quick trip round the town before heading back to base. We then walked down the road, through a hole in the hedge and made our way down to a small beach. There Brigid managed to get a good swim while I sat in the shade reading my book. 

In the afternoon we returned to the deck back at the house and lazed away the afternoon under the sunshade. Mike and Conny had gone out to a rodeo so we had the house to ourselves. Various people called in, including Ted from the waste reclaim centre. He knew that Mike was after a lawnmower and one had been dropped off, just needing a few minor repairs. Roger, a neighbour, dropped by with a couple of beers and sat chatting with us until Mike and Conny got back. We were then all invited to join in a barbecue that they had planned and it ended up a really enjoyable evening. Maybe the beers helped but we really felt part of the family.