Reluctantly, we are acknowledging that our time in Napier New Zealand is too quickly coming to an end. This is our second Ministry Exchange experience, and as before, it has been a tremendous blessing to our family and to our ministry.
Arranging for an exchange is a couple of years in the making. Approval from Session and Presbytery are essential of course, but the time consuming aspect is finding someone from the country in which you want to exchange who wants to exchange for the same period of time during the same part of the year; comes from a congregation in which you would have theological compatibility; would be helpful to your congregation; and comes from a ministry (urban, rural or downtown) that would be comfortable in your ministry setting and vica versa. There is always at least one magazine in most countries in which you could place an advertisement for an exchange, and/or you can always send your letter of interest in this regard to the various Presbyteries in your country of interest.
At this point in this exchange, I can say, that for me, it has been most helpful on two fronts. Firstly, what this experience has done for our family is immeasurable. To travel to the other side of the world with our children, Eben,16, Logan, 14, and Hannah, 12, has provided an education that will be with them forever. We touched down in Anchorage just to re-fuel, but spent 4 eye-opening days in Hong Kong, to which we will gladly return on our way home. Our time in New Zealand has been life changing for all of us. The spectacular beauty of this country, the differences in language, customs, culture… everything, big and small has been an education for us all. Intentionally, the children have not been enrolled in NZ schools while we were here. At home, like far too many Canadian families, our lives are lived in the rush of a hurricane! My wife, Heather, and I compare daytimers… who is taking who where, when, how? The kids rush from school, to sports, music, church, friends… We seemed to be unable or unwilling to slow things down. The difference that this change in venue and pace has made on our family has been remarkable. Slowing life down, having time for each other, exploring and discovering new things together and simply having unscheduled time together has done things for our family I never thought possible.
What has been disturbing about the trip is discovering the ill health of the PCNZ. National Staff are being let go and buildings used to house national staff are being sold. Homes for seniors that were once owned by various arms of the church are being sold. Church attendance on the whole is diminishing and those congregations that are still surviving are scrambling to find ways to grow and establish the foundation for a future.
I cannot recommend heartily enough, the benefits of a ministry exchange- for clergy, their families, for both congregations involved, and for the church worldwide. We will return home, renewed, refreshed, and connected to some amazing new friends who worship God in another hemisphere.
