God-Orchestrated

So I have this blog but I never explained my reasoning for getting it.

I'm moving to New Zealand in May of 2007. My sister and I are going to live for one year on our own in another country because the Lord has called us to do it. When the idea was first brought up to me by my sister I thought it was a fabulous and exciting idea. I love traveling and I haven't been to another country in 4 years. It was time to go. During my initial answer of "yes" I knew God was working, in a sort of distant - "go ahead and plan your own vacation" - kind of way. But I had no idea how much it was really He who was arranging, prompting, and asking me to go.

As my sister and I began to look at how we were going to get to and stay in NZ, God began to work. First, He brought to my attention a program called Working Holiday that NZ does with many countries including the USA. This program is only for people between the ages of 18-30. It's kind of an immigrant exchange program. NZ accepts a certain number of American immigrants to their country for a year in exchange for the USA accepting a certain number of New Zealanders to their country. Only 1000 Americans are accepted to NZ per year. Through the Working Holiday Scheme you receive a travel visa to go to New Zealand and a one year Work Permit to work in the country. The Lord guided me to this program and then allowed my sister and I to be accepted into this program within hours of our applying.

Next, a few months after our acceptance the Lord pointed us to where in NZ He wanted us to live. We had previously determined that we were going to live on the North Island and in or near a city. But which city? We were thinking about Hamilton, but we weren't sure how big it was or if it was too large like Auckland. Well, by a series of God-orchestrated events we were able to have lunch with a missionary from our church who had done many years of ministry in NZ. She lived and ministered in Hamilton. From talking with her it was confirmed that this was the city we should live in. She told us how to find housing and what the housing was like, where the good and bad neighborhoods were, where a Biblical Christian church was located in the city, and about the diversity of the city. Oh yeah, and there is a large college in the city so we will be sure to find other young adults to hang out with.

Finally, a few days ago I talked to a man in my cast of Porgy & Bess who is from New Zealand, near Hamilton (Divine appointment). What are the chances that someone from NZ would be in Ohio AND in a play with me! As I spoke with him, he was excited to tell me about his home country and all the wonderful things about NZ and the Hamilton area. He also told me that he had done a lot of theater in NZ. Fabulous! I'm planning on pursuing theater while I'm in NZ. He's going to give me the name and email of a director that he has done a few shows with in NZ.

Wow! The Lord is really confirming over and over again that it is His plan for me to go to NZ. Already I know which city to search for an apartment and job in and I have a Christian connection through the missionary and a theater connection through my fellow cast member. I can't wait to see what the Lord's going to do next.

This blog is going to help me to keep in contact with all of my friends and loved ones during my year in New Zealand.