Below is the letter we emailed out to our supporters and family and friends..... thought I'd post it on here. I really need to get blogging again. I've got a couple friends who have started blogging and I really enjoy reading their blogs, so it's beginning to inspire me! lol
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Well, it has been a long time since we last sent out an update email, September, I believe. A lot has happened since then! Here are a few highlights of our family’s comings and goings in the past 5 months.
Paige: graduated from high school in December. Hooray! It was a tough year for her with being sick for most of it plus our 6 weeks in Canada which caused her to miss 4 weeks of school, but she managed to get through it and graduate! She suffered from severe tonsillitis all year to the point that they burst in September. In December she had her tonsils removed and a week later the scarring broke off and she had extreme bleeding and was hospitalized overnight until they could get it under control and monitor her. By the time our Christmas visitors arrived she was on her way to recovery so she could enjoy the holiday season. Now she is all better and looks forward to increased energy levels and better health! Paige has decided to take a year and figure out what’s next for her. She is still working at the Teddy Factory (like Build a Bear) and will continue to do so until the next plan falls into place for her. One of the things she’s considering is a 10 month program in the hospitality/tourism industry. She is extremely social and friendly, so we know that kind of career would suit her just fine! Paige went through a very difficult time just after Christmas when her boyfriend, Alex’s, best friend died in a single vehicle car accident. That was very hard on both her and Alex, but they’re coming through it. Thanks for your prayers, those of you who knew about it and were praying for them.
Danae: graduated from high school in December as well. She did very well in her subjects and especially in her sculpture and photography. This photo of her natural sculpture has been used by the school for the cover of the students’ daytimers and the cover of the calendar that is given out to guests, so that is a pretty big honor! There is the circle in the front and a copy of it way out in the water. I think she’d called it the 12 Disciples. Danae has decided, through a series of events, that she will be attending Capernwray here in New Zealand this year. It all came about rather suddenly, but we know that this is what God has planned for her and she is very excited. The hardest thing for her was quitting her job at Starbucks, which she loves! However, Capernwray has a new coffee shop for the students, so Danae will likely get to continue practicing her barista skills there! Her dear friend, Janelle, from Canada arrives this week for a three week visit, so Danae will begin school on February 14.
MacKenzie: is heading into Year 12 (grade 11) February 2nd. She is such a joy to have around, full of life and enthusiasm, and a great sense of humor! She continues to work at Muffin Break, drives my car whenever she can get the keys, hangs out with her friends, bakes amazing delicacies, and has recently found a new happy place, Capernwray. She went for a youth conference there and fell in love with it, so she’s eagerly anticipating the day when she too can attend as a student, but for now she will just attend all the conferences and camps she can. She is going to be a peer support leader this year at her school, who helps the younger students get adjusted to life in high school. Her course load is full of all the ‘brainy’ subjects with her one option being photography.
Kevin & Cheryl: Besides running our kids around and trying to keep up with where they are and what they’re up to, our most exciting accomplishment has been the completion of our Permanent Residency! On December 19th we received our passports back with the wonderful “PR” stickers inside giving us indefinite permanent residency in NZ! Phew. That was a long process! But now it’s done and we can get on with life. Kevin has signed up for the next course in his Master’s program, which will start in March. He also continues to keep busy with our little church. In November we moved our services to Saturday nights because the building we were meeting in was undergoing renovations and needed us to move. So now we meet in the CACC. (which is actually the daughter church from our church, about 10 years ago) It is going very well. We’ve seen the addition of a few new families/singles who enjoy Saturday night church. The ministry now includes two functioning small groups meeting weekly, a Saturday Evening Service, a youth focused small group, a worship focused small group and a tiny Sunday school. The church has seen our two new Chinese Christians grow and become faithful followers of Jesus. Next weekend we will be having a church meal together followed by a planning session for the coming year. We really need to see people added to our fellowship as the deadline for the withdrawal of the C&MA NZ financial support is scheduled for the end of May. We are coming down to the wire and the church needs to be able to sustain itself financially or some drastic measures will need to be undertaken. If the church becomes unable to sustain itself financially, then the top choice at this point would be for Kevin to take a part time job to release the church from this portion of its financial obligation to us. The worst case scenario then would be closing down the church altogether, which no one wants to see happen! Kevin also continues to have opportunity to speak at Capernwray. He spoke at the school in the South Island in December and spoke at a youth conference in January. Cheryl has enjoyed having the summer holidays off, hosting all of our visitors, and goes back to work next week as the new school year kicks off.
A couple of huge highlights of the past few months have been the arrival of some very special people! In November Dale and Amber moved here to help us with our church. They were with us in Peachland working with our youth there, before heading to China for four years of teaching English. When they heard we were moving here, they committed to joining us and now here they are! What a blessing and humbling experience this has been for us as a family. To think that God would care so much about our little family way down here at the bottom of the globe that He’d send these wonderful people to be our encouragement and support! God is good! Please pray for Dale and Amber as they wait for their work visas to be approved before they can begin teaching English here with the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches in the area.
Another group of very special people arrived in December for 3 weeks of Christmas holiday fun! Kevin’s cousin, Tim and his wife Kelly, and their four boys arrived just before Christmas to bring us some good old Canadian Christmas cheer! We had so much fun with them and it was especially awesome for our girls to really get to know their cousins! We all had a great time together.
We have move visitors on their way. Danae’s good friend, Janelle, from Peachland arrives this week for 3 weeks, and then Kevin’s parents arrive in March for 3 weeks. So God continues to provide us with people from ‘back home’ to ease our homesickness and to help us keep our relationships going! We are also thankful for all the modern technology that helps us keep in touch with people!
Sorry this update was so long, but hopefully you’ve enjoyed it and are up to date on what’s happening ‘down under’ with the Nichol’s. We continue to covet your prayers as our little church struggles along. We desire to share Jesus’ love with all of the people God places in our lives, whether they be in our church, the community, our school, or our jobs. God is good!
God bless you and yours! We love to hear from you so please do keep in touch.
~~ Pastor Kevin and Cheryl, Paige, Danae & MacKenzie
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Well, it has been a long time since we last sent out an update email, September, I believe. A lot has happened since then! Here are a few highlights of our family’s comings and goings in the past 5 months.
Paige: graduated from high school in December. Hooray! It was a tough year for her with being sick for most of it plus our 6 weeks in Canada which caused her to miss 4 weeks of school, but she managed to get through it and graduate! She suffered from severe tonsillitis all year to the point that they burst in September. In December she had her tonsils removed and a week later the scarring broke off and she had extreme bleeding and was hospitalized overnight until they could get it under control and monitor her. By the time our Christmas visitors arrived she was on her way to recovery so she could enjoy the holiday season. Now she is all better and looks forward to increased energy levels and better health! Paige has decided to take a year and figure out what’s next for her. She is still working at the Teddy Factory (like Build a Bear) and will continue to do so until the next plan falls into place for her. One of the things she’s considering is a 10 month program in the hospitality/tourism industry. She is extremely social and friendly, so we know that kind of career would suit her just fine! Paige went through a very difficult time just after Christmas when her boyfriend, Alex’s, best friend died in a single vehicle car accident. That was very hard on both her and Alex, but they’re coming through it. Thanks for your prayers, those of you who knew about it and were praying for them.
Danae: graduated from high school in December as well. She did very well in her subjects and especially in her sculpture and photography. This photo of her natural sculpture has been used by the school for the cover of the students’ daytimers and the cover of the calendar that is given out to guests, so that is a pretty big honor! There is the circle in the front and a copy of it way out in the water. I think she’d called it the 12 Disciples. Danae has decided, through a series of events, that she will be attending Capernwray here in New Zealand this year. It all came about rather suddenly, but we know that this is what God has planned for her and she is very excited. The hardest thing for her was quitting her job at Starbucks, which she loves! However, Capernwray has a new coffee shop for the students, so Danae will likely get to continue practicing her barista skills there! Her dear friend, Janelle, from Canada arrives this week for a three week visit, so Danae will begin school on February 14.
MacKenzie: is heading into Year 12 (grade 11) February 2nd. She is such a joy to have around, full of life and enthusiasm, and a great sense of humor! She continues to work at Muffin Break, drives my car whenever she can get the keys, hangs out with her friends, bakes amazing delicacies, and has recently found a new happy place, Capernwray. She went for a youth conference there and fell in love with it, so she’s eagerly anticipating the day when she too can attend as a student, but for now she will just attend all the conferences and camps she can. She is going to be a peer support leader this year at her school, who helps the younger students get adjusted to life in high school. Her course load is full of all the ‘brainy’ subjects with her one option being photography.
Kevin & Cheryl: Besides running our kids around and trying to keep up with where they are and what they’re up to, our most exciting accomplishment has been the completion of our Permanent Residency! On December 19th we received our passports back with the wonderful “PR” stickers inside giving us indefinite permanent residency in NZ! Phew. That was a long process! But now it’s done and we can get on with life. Kevin has signed up for the next course in his Master’s program, which will start in March. He also continues to keep busy with our little church. In November we moved our services to Saturday nights because the building we were meeting in was undergoing renovations and needed us to move. So now we meet in the CACC. (which is actually the daughter church from our church, about 10 years ago) It is going very well. We’ve seen the addition of a few new families/singles who enjoy Saturday night church. The ministry now includes two functioning small groups meeting weekly, a Saturday Evening Service, a youth focused small group, a worship focused small group and a tiny Sunday school. The church has seen our two new Chinese Christians grow and become faithful followers of Jesus. Next weekend we will be having a church meal together followed by a planning session for the coming year. We really need to see people added to our fellowship as the deadline for the withdrawal of the C&MA NZ financial support is scheduled for the end of May. We are coming down to the wire and the church needs to be able to sustain itself financially or some drastic measures will need to be undertaken. If the church becomes unable to sustain itself financially, then the top choice at this point would be for Kevin to take a part time job to release the church from this portion of its financial obligation to us. The worst case scenario then would be closing down the church altogether, which no one wants to see happen! Kevin also continues to have opportunity to speak at Capernwray. He spoke at the school in the South Island in December and spoke at a youth conference in January. Cheryl has enjoyed having the summer holidays off, hosting all of our visitors, and goes back to work next week as the new school year kicks off.
A couple of huge highlights of the past few months have been the arrival of some very special people! In November Dale and Amber moved here to help us with our church. They were with us in Peachland working with our youth there, before heading to China for four years of teaching English. When they heard we were moving here, they committed to joining us and now here they are! What a blessing and humbling experience this has been for us as a family. To think that God would care so much about our little family way down here at the bottom of the globe that He’d send these wonderful people to be our encouragement and support! God is good! Please pray for Dale and Amber as they wait for their work visas to be approved before they can begin teaching English here with the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches in the area.
Another group of very special people arrived in December for 3 weeks of Christmas holiday fun! Kevin’s cousin, Tim and his wife Kelly, and their four boys arrived just before Christmas to bring us some good old Canadian Christmas cheer! We had so much fun with them and it was especially awesome for our girls to really get to know their cousins! We all had a great time together.
We have move visitors on their way. Danae’s good friend, Janelle, from Peachland arrives this week for 3 weeks, and then Kevin’s parents arrive in March for 3 weeks. So God continues to provide us with people from ‘back home’ to ease our homesickness and to help us keep our relationships going! We are also thankful for all the modern technology that helps us keep in touch with people!
Sorry this update was so long, but hopefully you’ve enjoyed it and are up to date on what’s happening ‘down under’ with the Nichol’s. We continue to covet your prayers as our little church struggles along. We desire to share Jesus’ love with all of the people God places in our lives, whether they be in our church, the community, our school, or our jobs. God is good!
God bless you and yours! We love to hear from you so please do keep in touch.
~~ Pastor Kevin and Cheryl, Paige, Danae & MacKenzie
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