A Word from the Silsbees

Happy 4th of July. We had a minor celebration here with canned baked beans, homemade big soft buttery pretzels (like the ones at the mall) and the barbecue grill cooked up hot dogs and hamburgers (magic!). We even found two fireworks pieces in a box of stuff we had left behind with a friend on our way out of New Zealand. (They are a really cool spinning kind that I had wanted to take and show my dad. I chickened out of taking them in our airplane luggage! They survived sitting somewhere for two years and we benefited by lighting the two of them tonight!)

We are currently…and still!...staying with friends. And…they are still our friends!! We’ve hit nine weeks and counting living out of our suitcases and we are SO ready to have a place to call home again. One house we lived in previously is again for sale, and if it wasn’t so close to our previous ministry, we might be tempted to buy it again. The four of us are lined up on the floor like Indians in a teepee. Our gracious friends cleared out a bedroom for us. There is just enough room for sleeping across the one side and a couple suitcases lined up at our feet. Don’t feel sorry for us. We are happy to have stayed in one place now for two weeks straight! It is an adventure we are happy to make in service to our King. Lord willing our suitcase days are coming to an end. This coming Sunday a church will be voting on us coming to assist them. Please pray that these people will be seeking the mind of the Lord and cast their vote accordingly. We don’t want anything outside his will. A number of things have fallen into place to make this ministry possible, and a positive vote will be final confirmation from the Lord that this is the place He would have us serve.

While waiting for the Lord to make His will known, we\nhave been busy re-acclimating ourselves to New Zealand, renewing old contacts\n(both believers and many in need of Christ), and being involved in ministry opportunities\nwherever possible. The church we are currently attending is very short on\nworkers, and one lady was covering the children’s program during all the\nservices. I have helped to provide relief so that she can benefit from\nsitting in on some services as well. Scott has preached a number of\ntimes, and his messages are being well-received.