.

Dear Friends,

I had to look at my calendar to realize that it actually had been a month since
I'last wrote to you all. As Ruth says, "My how the time does fly when you are having fun," ue at least have been quite busy this month with various activities. It seems like Ruth is gone to something every day. Hith helping in the Opportunity

Shop, working with our mid week after school, group, and.going weekly for excercises
with a spina bifida child she has a busy schedule aiid then there arp always planning meetings and womens meetings of one kind or another, so with the housework she has no problems with boredom. The boys were both fortunate that they finished their l&iiversity exams one week and were able to get jobs the next -vjeek. . Ricky is working in a lumber yard close to home and should be there all summer. Kirk is vrorking for

a wolesale fabric place in the city at least until about Christmas. They are pleased to have the chance to make some money and have something to do. Laurie finished her exams this week and is off school now until.the first of February. . She would

like to work some but may have troiibie finding a job.

She is mostly just happy to "

be finished studying for awhile. Our church activity at the moment which is attracting a lot of attention is

building a float.to enter in"the local business mene parade this Saturday. In the past.there has been nothing to cause people to even think about the real meaning
of Christmas so this year we determined to enter a float. There is always a big crowd that attends and in this way we can cause them to be aware of the birth of

Jesus and publicize our presence in the community as a church.

The float is on a

9 by 6 trailer which the men have built a frame out to make it straight on the sides. This is covered with chicken wire and serviettes (napkins). Then there will a post on the center of each side and end which have a cross piece to come together above the center of the trailer. On top of this will go a big red bow made of the stuffed wire. The posts will be covered id.th red crepe paper. Inside will be two youth
representing Hary and Joseph and a doll for the baby Jesus, i.'e irajited one of the couples here with a 7 month old baby to do this but they were afraid he would be

fussy so that didn't vrork.

The float will be pulled by a car and in front of it

will be l6 kids each wearing a covered box over their.shoulders with a letter on each box. They will spell out GODS GEIiyTEST GEFT. On the back of the float vdll be a sign with the name of the church and address on it. l/e have had one work night with a good response and hope tonight to finish all. that.can be done ahead of time. It has been good so far just to have everyone working together on something and
vje are sure that it will be a good witness for Christ Jesus on Saturday, can only pray that the weather will continue good till then. program each week. ilow \ie

One encouraging area of church life is the good response to thb ai'ter school
There is a flucuation of individuals but we run about 20 kids

each week. Some of these V7ill be taking part in- the parade and then in our Christmas program for the first time, ue think their parents will attend so it will give us a good link with the families. Thise seems the most effective way of reaching people in the community so we think it is worth a lot of effort, i.e tty to provide
something for all ages* but concentrate more on the younger children. There is a good nucleus for a senior youth group and we will be viorking more with that in the new year and particularly with Barrel now taking the. leadership there. Darrel is doing a good job here and is well accepted. He informed us this week that he is now

engaged to a girl in Kansas. She is to come out here in.December and they expect to be married sometime in the new yeax but no time set definitely yet. i.-e are pleased with the idea since it will help him to be settled and to be happy in his
work here. She is the daughter of a preacher and they have been acquainted for
tliree years so it seems like a good match.

lie are enjoying a good beginning of summer now. In fact everything is becoming dry since it has been tvio weeks since vre had a good rain. I am trying to get some flowers started so I have to water them eveiy night. They are on a hill which makes it dry out more. In the garden the moisture is pretty good and the beans and radishes
are growing n-rell. u-e have been having very nice lettuce right now. The tomatoes are Sitting on so by the end of next month or maybe by Christmas we will, have our first Strawberries-are- in-fuli^ produetion^-but-ours have not done-mucl-t-sinee^ we moved dom here so all vre ho.ve had is some we bought. The last of the cauliflowers
are gone also. Laurie ;and Iiuth hate been swimming a time or two so far. i.hen i/e saw

pictures on TV of the first snowstorm up in the western states we were very pleased
to be here and in'summer time.
a,ppeal for me.
in full bloom.

All that snow blowing around just doesn't have any

le know that you i.dll have many

I would much prefer to look at our beautiful roses now that they are

..e wish you each one a very Happy Christmas time,

serve him as you see fit.
The Hintens

good times of worship and praise of the Christ child and also times to do good deeds to those who are less fortunate, iiay God bless you each one as you continue to

Dear Friends,

The weather reports say you are. having a fairly cold winter so I am thankful for

"being in the southern summer,

i/e have just returned from two weeks of holiday out

It

on the East Ga.pe at Gisbome. I can now say we have seen some hot weather here#

was in the nineties a few days and even reached 100 on one day. That vras a bit warm for comfort, V/e enjoyed our time there and the privilege "of meeting the church people there. I spoke at two services so we are now better acquainted. The church there is separated from all other churches of Christ so it,.is. not often we meet them, ^ey are pretty active with an attendance of 80-90. They have many of the same problems of holding their youth as the rest of us but are doing very well. Their
preacher came and lived in our house and vre lived in his house so it made for an

holiday time. - He spoke here tv/ice also so that ^ve Barrel a bre^. -Vie have not had any rain for some time so it is "a bit dry. That is good for

holiday people but not so good for farmers.

watering the tomatoes.

Wy beans are burning up and I have been

have lots of it so, we will just enjo^^ the dryness now. Laurie starts biack to school this coming vjeek. She was jubilant this week to get hisr results on her Iftiiveristy Entrance exams. Only 50 per cent of those who sit the
exams are allowed to pass so she vras pleased to pass. She viill still be in secondary

The rain will start again in a few days and then we will

school this year but has peissed that level of achievement. If she does not change her mind she plans to return to the States at the end of this year and enter Ozark Bible College. Kirk hsis been accepted for the Pharmacy course at Otago Iftiiversity so he Tfill be going to Dunedin about the middle of February to begin classes. That is about 800 miles from here on the south Island. He can fly for half fare as a
student so that is the most economical way for him to go. He will have full board in a dormitory there. I/ith what he had made working and vrhat assistance the
government gives he thinks he can just break even. Ricky has worked all &"unmer

at a lumber yard and since he will still be at home for this school year ho is beQoming wealthy. He prill go back to Auckland University to take a BSC course.
permanently.

He

comes in from work every ni^t and goes to the beach for a swim before he has his supper. He seems to be enjoying his work but doesn't think he would like to do it

Ue are now at the point of beginning the new school year and also it means a

renewal of the church programi

other activities.

Sunday School resumes next Sunday and this brings

The Christmas season was an active one for the church and a time

of encouragement. Our entry in the local parade was well received anH created a lot of interest. Then the Christmas tea and program was very good. Ue had 115
present which was high for us for that program. Each year there seems to be more

iho come to it. Barrel was in charge and^did a good job. The ladies went to quite a bit of trouble to fix costumes including about 25 angel robes cut out of sheet
and sewed up. l/e have stored this stuff away where we pjill have it for use another time. The midweek childrens hour also closed on a good note with good attendance

and new people right up to the last week. V/e now hope to build on that enthusiasm and get off to a good start, 'for this new year. One older couple shifted up here from i/cUington so we are pleased to have them. Overall the outlook is good. It is hard to realize that it has been a whole year since we arrived back from

our visit in the States.

It has been a good year in many ways and we expect this

one ahead to be even better. The congregation here is in good harmony and as a result we are getting more visitors and more interest from the community. Hhen a congregation has dissension viithin it soon becomes apparent to those on the outside
so they want nothing to do with it. can try.
^ea.

This is evidence that Jesus Christ in not

being put first and so there is really nothing to present to the world.

Ko congre

gation ever completely rids itself of wbrlly attitudes and has 100^ harmony but we
It is a sad thing to hear, of troubles within the body of Christ in any
Hay the Lord bless each of you.
Hubert

Dear P^iends,

Greetings from dovm under once again. It is not winter here but we are starting to have a little cooler weather and rain once again. This will continue until about Hay when winter actually starts. Now it is nice and warm xfhen the sun shines and

a little cool on rainy days. 17e picked our grapes off our one vine last week and Ruth made jelly and then she made some apple jelly from off our trees. This week I spent all rooming on Monday picking "blackberries and Ruth made jelly of them so we are really getting sweetened up. Ihe berries were not top quality but the taste

is good.
plants.

She also bottled (we don't can things here) a little tomato juice from our
I stopped at a farm last Saturday and picked some sweet com and bought
Barrel has

a watermelon so we have really been going big on fruit and vegetables.

been picking some of the peaches up at his house.

The big event for our household tliis month was Kirk going away to school. He left on the l8th for Dunedin to enroll In the Iftiiversity there. That is about 800 miles from here so he flew on a student stand by which is half fare. He went to the air

port about 6:15 am and left at 813O am so he was there at 11sJO,

He T-iill stay in

the dormitory and xirill have all his meals provided for him seven days a Tjeek. This will cost him $42 a weekL^but^he^ets_^s)30^ week jfrom the govF.mment_as-^-student so that is not bad. If all goes well he vrill be a qualified phainnacist in three yetirs. Ricky is back in' class here at Auckland Ifriiversity working on a ESC program.
If all goes well he.coule receive that at the end of this year. Laurie is back in secondary school for her last year, iiext week I begin a counselling class which

will be-part time for three months so I should leam something also.
Darrel has not heard anything yet about his visa so he is under a bit of pressure because of it. He has organized a a.ble Bowl team which is meeting each week now

to prepare for competition, i/e hope it will become accepted for the whole district. There is also a camp for the youth just from this congregation in. a couple of weeks
which will be led by Darrel and Cindy so they are busy getting ready for that. It won't be a big camp but should be good in getting the kids thinlcing of themselves as a group. A couple of members of Parliment have put in special appeals for a favorable hearing on the visa so now it is in the hands of the Dept. of Immigration and the Lord so we can only pray about it.

Sunday School has started a little bit slow with 25-30 kids each Sunday. The adult class is larger* than usual so that is good. Next week we begin our mid-week after-

school program which should also help the Sunday School. afternoon.
-evening meal-so vre ate our toget^ier.^

There was a good attendance

at the church picnic last Saturday and the weather was nice so it was a very good

V/e spent the entire afternoon on the beach and everyone brought their
Some "tarought bexbecue grHis-aad- shared

them. It was a-good time of fellowship for all. Then Sunday night the youth took charge of the evening service. Laurie led the song service and five of the young men spoke for a short time and the junior class presented a skit. It was all well
received.

;Je can all moan together about the price increases on most everything,

lie are

facing increases in milk from 10 to 15 cents a pint.

That sounds cheap but it was

4 cents a pint when we came over, iiilectricity is going up about 50^^ which is our heating supply. Rail costs will rise sharply. Our inflation is currently lO^j but
with all our oil being imported the latest problems there will ca.use big problems, lieekend sales of petrol is already prohibited and other restrictions are expected along with a probable big price hike. The one thing which has gone dovm is air
fares between here and Horth America. In certain off seasons the fare is now about

^i500 return to Los Angeles. people are doing very well.

things are possible

Since wage scales have also gone up dramatically most

ie pray for you all regularly and ask that you also pray for us.
The Hintens

iiith His help all

. a success. ! really appreciate my committee. It would te impossltae to try and . ^ all th work myself. Thanks Pauline, Gene, Clarence, Billie, Bob, and Perry.

I would like to thank each and oveiyone who helped in making our spring'revival

^e music was beautiful and set the mood for the serivce. Thanlcs Kathleen and . iSl^e for the hard work you did. Also, Stacy helped in lining up the specials
each night. Thanks for each specialthey were fantastic.

^anks, Dorothy for lining up the meals. This is the first time I've seen people

them!^^

list to feed the preachers. Also a big thanks-for the ones who fed
-

It was a sacrifice for you not to be in the auditorium.

ue really appreciate Faye and her crew for taking care of the nursery each night.

Th^ you, Bob and iUileen for keeping the preacher and the other things you did
auring .the .meeting. Bob,-you were ,a-good spprb'S the pie throw.

Thante to Roberta, Joyce and Pauline for the pizza paxty after the service. The
youth really enjoyed it.

Ifevin Ilay,,I. -ap^^

Thanks to Richard and June for opening their home for the prayer meeting Siinday
Jerry, your devotion at the piayer meeting vxas a blessing.

up the laen for the offering. Thanks also, men.

night after church.

Thanks to each one who provided rides and for each one who invited others which is the key to getting people at the services.

Thanks to the iiuppets and the ones who came to- practice one hour early each night. =
Thanks to Tom and Barry. I'm sure we will all remember them for a long time.

If I have forgotten to thank anyone, please accept my apology, but most of ^1,
thanks for the job you did. Most of all, thank God for sending His blessing to lis and for the good weather.
Chairman of Evangelism Committee
Delbert E. Guffey
BUILDERS & SiS/iRCHERSt SUNDAY SCHOOL LITERATURE8

The Builders and Searchers Class met

Quarterlies, Student & teacher books,

Ihursday night March 1 in the church basement id.th Clarence and Elaine McVay

. activity materials in clean useable shape for Stan Uay, Smithville are NOV/ being

as hosts. There were 14 adults and 3 children present. Before the meeting was
called to order, our president, Roberta
Jenkins read some humorous comments from

collected. A shipment is planned soon, Bring yoia: material to the church.

THiUIK YOU NOTES:

8, 9 and 10 year olds on the subject of death and dying.

The meeting was called to order and . Richard Ray led in our opening prayer. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The treasurers report was given and two thank-you cards for

Thanks to June Ray, Emma Body, Ruth Ann Ferguson, and Maxine Evelsizer for caring for the nursery during revival.

Faye Lockard Thank you so much for allowing me to

Christmas plates were read. I/e. were re-. .. share your revival. Way God continue to minded to keep our shit-ins in mind with bless you as you seek His will in the
cards and visits. future there. I appreciate so much the
love you shared with me.

of Cedar Greek Church in Smithville, OK

telling of their need for Adult, High

Joyce-CiiffRy read

Inttpr from-Stan l.'ay

Tom Kakac *

Ha-n-niTv His-

School, Junior and PrUa^y Sunday School ^ to say thank you for materials! also his need for newjlasses, letting me come to Mrian and share ^lith as other e^^^ses have htodered h^ being ^ this past neeki I really enjoyed myself and hope that I was ahLe to send !i>100.00 o im. help you to achieve some of the expectaFollowing the meeting adjournment Clarence

tions what you had for the weekl

gave a very interesting devotion of "God's Thanks again for a great vieekJ Be sure to Creation" and the appreciation we should tell those 51 people that made decisions have for the beauty God has t^ven in His that we are still praying for them I And we Citation. Scripture was tak^u from Glenesis.are praying for you too, and hope to hear
about great things happening there in

After some very interesting games were

played, deliciour refreshments were

served by our hosts.

Adajian in the weeks and months to comeS

Sincerely in Christ,
cameron

Dear Friends,

I will start out with uhat is bad ncvrs to us.

This is that Barrel, our youth

minister, has received definite word from the Immigration Department that he will onlj'- "be allowed to remain here until .\usust 18. This is under a policy which is to

try to preserve all positions for i?ew Zealand people, i.c have all prayed about tliis a great deal and now accept that this is God's willo Darrcl is working now to do as much as possible in the next few months to build a solid foundation for the youth TTork. He hopes to get someone to come out and take his place in /lugust but
this is indefinite.

For the ^ood neTis we are all vrell and active. The weather has been very favorable vjith wGiTii temperatures and some rain. Bverythihg is growing like crazy. 'Our family is setting along very well. ICirk soems well adjusted to university life away from
home, i.e hear from him each week xrith one of the main items being what kind of good

they have: been having. He is attending a*non-instrumental Church of Christ there which has an actlvc youth program so he is happy with it. He thinks they- are working him fairly hard in cla.sse^'"BDEt'nof^^Beydrid reason". Ricky doesn't say much about his school work but appears content with it. Laurie would just as soon forget about the class work but enjoys the activities. Her softball season ended last Saturday. Ihe won-lost rccord wasn't too good but they seemed to enjoy it. They do have one more game tomorroir as an interschool contest. Kuth continues busy with all the

activities of family and church.

Cindy (Darrel's financee) continues to live with

us so there is always someone coming or going. I started taking a class called Clinical Pastoral Evaluation the first of this month which is keeping me busy. The

empiiasis is on the mental health of the student and irhat effect this has on their
ministry to others. I em finding it very interesting, i.'ho knows, I might even make
some changes for the better. Tliis idll continue to the end of Uojy*

fixing up on the outside of the building. It wa<s beginning to be a bit work^ There
was a good response so by noon it was all done and looks quite spiffy noir.
this week on wether i t go or no.

Last iJaturday Tias a vrork day for the men of the church to do some painting and

The

wea.ther wa>s nice so it all went on very well.

Ihis coming Saturday is to be a work

day at the cpjnp to work on a new fence so it will depend on how well everything goes
.,c started our Jed. afternoon childrens hour this month and have had excellent

response so far with around 50 each week.

the church or others from the area.

Several of them are from the I3.ble cla,sses

Others are children from

that Darrcl, Cindy, and I talce at the schools each week.

That is a lot of energy bottled up to be used

but we arc getting along very Tjell so far.

club continue on.

Uur usual Sunday School and iilot Car

Barrel is also organizing a Eible Eowl competition so a, team

of young -people meet each i^eds. night to study the book of John. They meet with us
for the opening part of the Eible Study and they go dovmstairs vrhile ire have our study upstairs. Txro weeks a.go we had a faiaily tea and service with the children on siunday night so the jBible Bowl kids put on a ten minute demonstration lor us. They found it was more difficult when you were in front of a crowd. They a.rc doing very well. Tonight is ameetijig t5f"thc churches- in the district with Darrcl
scheduled to lead the singing and I vrill present an iilaster messa^^e. ..e ha,vc had American visitors twice this month. About toir weeks .ago Lot"ell

Applebury from San Jose, CaJLifomia was in Aucklajid and camc out for part of a day. He wa.s going on to the South Island where he was to lead some Seminars on -ijvangelism.
'.e cxiDCCt him back tomorrow on his way to the States. Then last week kc had

visitors from Trenton, iiissouri. They were the i.ilfords that attended the church where I -orcr.ched while in college a.t iioberly. They were with a tour group but

spv^nt part of two days with us.

It is nice to visit with the different ones ajid

s'ho:/ off Che area to them.

..e are just a^ proud of it as if we were natives so wc

lilvc to show all the local sights,

-veryonc is very conscious of the fuel shortage here.

serious for here,

All oil for here is im

ported riid much of it ha.s always come from Irrji so the present situation there is
'ihcre is a big drive to cut usagp which so far is working fairly

t/ell. x.ll petrol stations v(rc dosed from 7s00 pn Friday to 6j00am on Honday and on all holida,ys. Preparations arc being made that this next month stickers Trill
be issued.for each car so"that we will have to designate one day each week that
ttI-TI not, fiyivr? out crny at all. ^his aiid the fa.ct that petrol is to rise sharply

in "price next month should limit consumption a bit. There a,re busses but they don't always jo Tihere you waiit to go. e will just have to think ahead more aiid plan for
where wc need to go.

Ruth'Lj old washing machine played up so wc got her the very first new one she ha.s ever had. She is quite proud of it aaid washes everytime it isn't raining. .c have been getting the Adrian Journals this week telling of your big snoirstorm back in January. I am glad I missed out on that one. The stuff still looks nice
on Christmas cards but that is close crlough.

thinking a/oout putting out some garden aiid getting ready for warm/hot weather. e
to develop a irell rounded life.
.

ilow it will be time that you are

need some of the storms occasionally to remind us of. ho^r Trell tha^t God docs caxe

for us.

I haxln't thought-much about it but we do need a certain amount of suffering

,:od in His wisdom has created-us in the T:ay that

In His Service,
Hubert

is best for us.

uitil next month I will sign off.

Jcax Friends.,

Hay 29, 1979

There have been two main events this month to tell you about.

The first was our

annual family camp which was held the weekend of May II-I3.
urday night and then concluded with the noon meal on Sunday.

(You're right it was

There were 35 who took

iiother's Day.) Je started on Friday night and continued all day Saturday and Sat
part in a very enjoyable weekend. Ue used the book about Christian Fellowship that
was being used in the i/ednesday night Mble Study when we visited you there at

Mrian. I led most of the studies and Darrel led the ones on ounday morning, ije found them to be very stimulating with lots of discussion of just what Christian fellowship involves and its importants. Darrel and Cindy and one of the ladies here

had done a lot of preparation for the younger children so they were kept well
occupied with various activities. The spirit of the camp vras the best we had had
yet so that made it very enjoyable and reflected the good attitude within the con^egation at this time. Our numbers are holding steady but idth it there is a

feeling of optimism.

Ihe second big event for us was the wedding of Daxrel and Cindy, After having

Cindy live; with us for ^ months it was almost like having a dau^ter to be married
and in fact that is the way we were involved. They determined to have an /unerican style wedding so for two weeks before the event there was lots of activity at our

house. Darrel seemed to be present more than he was absent until it reached the point we were sick of hearing anything about wedding at all. Laurie even went ajid spent one of the last days at a friends house so she could get away from the whole thing. Those of you who have gone through all the rigamarole know what I'm talking about and the rest wouldn't understand. Anytjay the big day came on liay I8th and everything went off beautifully. I had a new experience of for the first time escorting the bride down the aisle and then officiating at the wedding service. Hone of their family from either side was here so I became the logical choice. It was a candlelight service which was different from normal for here. They also lit a unity candle which no one had seen done and they sang a song in the service so

that xms different. The big difference came with the reception. They did just like in the States and had cake and punch, mints and nuts for eve3:yone in the church hall. The normal thing here is for the reception to be a full catered meal usually held in
some special hall. The going rate is about fp8 a person so only family and close friends talce part. That meant that for many of the younger children this was their first wedding and they were quite impressed with all of it. About 80 were expected and 107 showed up so facilities were stretched a little. They had their car hidden close by the church in a garage but that didn't fool anyone and they didn't

get away without the usual adornment of tin cans.

well. Our house has become suddenly quiet.

They were put on with pliers and

he didn't have any so he drove 100 miles that night before they finally came off. They went away for the weekend to Rotorua. Ifoi; they are back and getting along very

Kirk was home for 2|- weeks this month during his school holidays which we enjoyed.
He left on Tuesday after the wedding to return to school so that made it even quieter. He and a friend were driving dom so they left a few days earlier to visit and sightsee along the way. He will be there until August and then home for about

three weeks.

It is as cheap for him to come home as it is to pay the extra board

Since we

where he stays so he gets a break.

It was nice and warm the week of our family camp and then turned cold the next
week so now we are finding heaters and more clothes to be very desirable.

are aware that our heating charges went up 3O/0 at the start of this month there is a hesitancy to use very much. Since our winters here in Auckland are milder we still get by much cheaper than you do in Missouri. Like the rest of the world we are feeling the gasoline cinjnch. Our prices were raised 7 cents a litre one day last week which makes it now about ;j)1.60 for a U.S. gallon, we are accustomed to the smaller cars with hi^er mpg so that helps. So far there has been no shortage but
it is likely that starting in July we will all have to designate one day during the

week that viill be a earless day for us. I don't suppose that will be ciny real tragedy for our family anyv/ay. People who work shiftwork and in areas where there is no public transportation will be exempted, l.'hether that will actually cut down on consumption or not remains to be proven.
1 tninic i mentioned that I have been taking a course -which deals with understanding

yourself better.

It went on for a period of twelve vreeks and is now completed.

fluth and I attended a session on Sunday cifternoon where ceirbificates were given out. ilow all I have to do is try to put in practice some of the principles that I have

learned. Sie whole thing was vrell worth while I thought, v/e spent some time in formal study and a lot of time in group discussion. The supervisors had a lot of

psychotherapy e:q)erience so they were helpful. That was the first training classes I had talien part in since leaving Seminary so it was good to have the break.
Having run out of exciting things to tell you about from here my mind was ad

justing to what it is like for you all now.

hot and muggy.
started.

I suppose the weather is starting to get

Gardens should be doing very well with Strawberries in full flow.

liost crops should be in the ground by now and haymaking ready to start if not already
1/e have been here long enough new that we think in terms of what the

weather is here for a particular month.

At first we had to concentrate to do that,

'/acation Bible School should be in full swing this week and by the time you reccive

r,his you will be saying.

It was a lot of work but it was well worthwhile.

Didn't

they do a nice job at the program? God bless you all in your work and thank you for your interest in our activities.
The Hintens

. gp I 2 <jg^g

'
Dear Friends,

August 28, 1979

Today is a beautiful sunshiny day Which has the feel of spring in the air. We are really pleased to see it since this had been a wet month. We have had rain

22 days so far in August.

Some of it has been quite hard so everything is a soggy

mess. The ground squelches whenever we step on it. We have so far received nearly the average rainfall for a year and still have four month to go. At least it has not been very cold so that helps a lot. We are in the school holiday again. I'm sure you are thinking that all we have

here is school holidays. Sometimes I feel that i^ay myself since we are constantly either having a holiday or getting ready for one. I personally still like the Stateside method better of having the school year in one big lun^) and then a longer period off. With our three kids in different schools it really weeses us up. Kirk started his holiday a week earlier than Riclqr and then Laurie started ^till another week later. They each get three weeks so for us is spreads over a five week period. Kirk came home and now has returned again. Riclgr and Laurie have

says next week she back. 18th and will be car for a two week trip aroimd the country. By now they should be down toward the bottom of the South Island and then will be starting back this direction in a day or two. I'm glad she could go with them and have a leisurely trip around. I'm not a very good
holiday traveler loyself, I feel like most hills and mountains and lakes look alike so a day or two does me.

been here doing some study and a lot of running around, Laurie is going to study since she will have exams as soon as she goes Ruth's sister and her family from Los Angeles arrived on the here until Sept. 6th, Last Wednesday they and Ruth left in our

Church life has been fairly routine this month.

Attendances have held up very

vjell. We had our annual general meeting of the congregation v^ch is the time when officers are elected and a congregational meeting is halfv All organizations make up reports of their activities and financial reports. These are all typed up and a copy given to each member. It is a pretty good thiaig since it makes a deftoite tine each year that all the programs of the congregation come up for review. Anyone >dio has questions or comments about any of the areas has a chance to speak their peace. As you can imagine if there is any conflict in a congre gation it comes out. This year everjrthing was very quiet so I take that as an indication that the general well being of the congregation is good. There is a
general feeling of optimism for the future,

gone very well in spite of rainy weather. Then this past weekend a young man from the church at l^^mhattan, Kansas vdiere they came from vias in Auckland so they had a reimion with him. He is over here for a three month period to work on building a childrens ranch/cac^ down in the Nelson area so we expect to see him again when he comes to Auckland before leaving the country. Harvest time will be going full saving for you all by now. I miss that time of year with all the bustle and anxiety. From what we hear some parts of Missouri have

be approved.or not. Their time ran out this month and they were given a month extension but still nothing definite. They are taking it pretty well. They took sixijof our juniors to a camp last week and helped out with it. It seems to have

Barrel and Cindy are still in the dilemma of not knowing whether their visa will

had a very good growing year and others have had a real dry spell. I suppose that is true of most years. Whatever comes we can trust the Lord will provide for our
then will be better prepared for the times ivhen there is a scarcity. I will close for now but I will be remembering you in my times of prayer.
real needs. If we will only remember to be thankful to Him i^en He is bountiful

trust you are also pra3ring for us and a^reciate that.

In His Service,
Hubert

/\J6iaJ 2-

Dear Friends,

Once again I take pen in hand to see \^;hat I can think to tell you that might be of interest. All is going smoothly here at the church for right now. Most of the month has been regular activities. Last Sunday was a particularly good Sunday. We had a larger Sunday School than usual to begin the day. I attribute that primarily to a con
test which began betwen two of the classes and so resulted in better attendance for

them plus a couple of visitors, I'm not too keen on contests but they can have good effects at times. Then we had a larger than usual church service in the morning. It started to rain in the afternoon and continued to come dox^ pretty hard clear into the
night. In spite of this we had a good turn out for a church carry in tea and then
more people for the evening service. It was a Family Service which means that the

children were involved quite a bit in it. They presented several musical numbers plus
some readings and a skit so there were several parents present ^vho do not usually at tend. All in all it was a very good day. j^iich of the tiioe here it seems that a lot of

effort is being put out for scanty results but occasionally it all seems to come right at once so there is a bit of encouragercent. Overall the atmosphere is pretty good. We have more recognition in the community each year as a place at least concern ed for their children. The congregation is in good haimony so this should be a good
year.

Cindy's parents and one brother were here for two weeks this month so they have been on the go taking in all the sightseeing of the local area. They made a couple of
short trips from here and were able to see quite a lot for the short time involved.

Her dad is a preacher in Minneapolis so he spoke

left this week so now we are all back to normal.

a couple of times while here- They

The fall season has now begun so we are feeling a cooling off. Daylight savings time has ended so the evenings are getting shorter. The gardens are virtually finished for the year. I pulled nty- tomato plants a few days ago. About all that will do any good now is cabbage and cauliflower or perhaps some potatoes. The flowers are doing
well. We have a row of dahlias that are beautiful. Some are pink and some are orange

with huge blooms up to 6 inches across. They have been blooming for two full months and don't show any sign of stopping yet. The many of our flowers do better in winter than summer. The zinnias and marigo3.ds that I planted are looking a little peaked. We had the edge of a hurricane with strong winds and rain for a few days v/hich was veiy hard on them. Then the slugs were eating them up so I had to put out some poison and they are looking a bit better. Our season now is fairly cool with periods of showers being coimnon. We have had one Saturday out of the last six that it hasn't rained
which disturbs factory and office workers.

Our family is all well. Kirk is now working for a security firm in Dunedim. He works a night shift but doesn't seem to mind that. He likes Dunedin and considers him self a permanent resident there. There are quite a few young people in his age group
at the non instrumental church there so he has become active there and quite happy

with it. We are pleased since we do not liave many of that age and so he found it hard to be content in the congregation here. We hear from him regularly so all is well. Ricky is now enjoying his motorcycle although he just rides it back and forth to university most of the time. He seems to be enjoying his studies this year more than usual. Ruth stays active around the house and church- Last night she had the girls club at our house for a demonstration on making hot cross buns. Cindy and the other lady was there too along with nine girls. They are in the 11-14 age group so they

were having a good old noisy time. They did get the buns made and the ones I sampled
turned out very well. This group meets every other week and usually have a demonstra
tion of some kind. So far they have responded very well with a few new ones-

We have been hearing recently of the increased interest rates in the U.S. and the measures being taken to curb inflation. This all seems to be true v^erever you are in
the world so we have to leam to live with it and put our confidence in the things that HKDths and rust cannot destroy. We are also kept fairly well informed about the

American political activities. The rest of the world cannot understand why there is all the system of primaries and elections that extend over so many months- I suppose most Americans don't really understand it either. It is a fact that whatever happens

there has a great affect on the rest of the world so there is a sharp interest. Coun
tries like New Zealand depend on the U.S. not only for defense but also as a giant niarket. Anything which is going to affect the economy or trading relationships is a
major item.

By the time you receive this Easter will be past and spring will be arrived in all its glory. As you see all the new beginnings of life there will be the reminder that it is God's world and He takes very good care of i;:. We appreciate your continued prayers for us and the work here. We know that all things work for the Lord's good
and at His time schedule.

In His service,
The Hintens

21

Dear Adrian Friends,

I will start by telling you our immediate plans. We expect to leave New Zealand in mid August to return to the States to remain. We do not know where we will be in

pect to be in Adrian sometime at the end of August or early September to spend a week end witih you. Originally our term here was not to end until December of this year but a young New Zealander became available to minister here beginning in September of this year so it seemed best for us to terminate early and allow him to begin. He con^leted
his Bible College work at Atlanta Christian College at the end of the first semester

the States but we know the Lord has a place of service for us somewhere.

We will ex

last year and then had one semester at Cincinnati Bible Seminary. He is a talented young man so it will be good to have him back in New Zealand. The change means this is likely the last letter I will write you from New Zealand. It has been five and a half years but has gone by quickly in most cases. We have had our ups and downs,, but

a great deal about Christian living in that time. Now Ruth and I are ready to return

feel like we have done the work the Lord sent us here to do. I know I have learned
to the States for whatever is in store for us there. Rick and Kirk both plan to re

main here for an indefinite period. They are old enough to be on their own so ^ ac cept their decision even though it means a separation of the famxly. They are both strong Christians so will do very well wherever they are. So many of their classmates at Adrian have gotten married in the last couple of years I think they are afraid to
return for fear it will happen to them. tt t, ^

a family in Jfe.y which was very good and then the next week had a camp at the church

We have been busy with church activities here the last couple of months, we

for the 12-15 year olds. The boys slept at the church and the girls slept in our front room and dining room. It was wall to wall girls but they seemed to enjoy them

nights we have been having table tennis evenings getting practiced up for the Distric coii5)etitions which are this week. Ihis is always well attended with strong competition

selves as well as have a good time of Christian fellowship and study. On Satu^y

Apostle Peter which is reported to be very good. Then the first two Saturday nights in August will be progressive dinners for the adults. Later in August a Bible College
worship services, Sunday School, Wednesday night Bible study for youth and adults, after school programs on Wednesday for the children, slot cars for the boys on Friday and a club group for the girls, all continue on. We manage to find enough to do. This Sunday night we will have a carry in meal with parents of children invited and open to Christ but occasionally there is a bit of a break through. Jfeny of the people
say they were just "not bom to be Christians", They look upon Christianity as some
ing the Gospel so that is what we are here for.

for cups in the different age brackets. There is even a cup for the veteran group which is the ones over 30. Tonight several of us are going to see a play about the

end of activities so everyone will be kept busy. Of course the usual activities of

team from Woolwich Bible College in Sydney, Australia are to be here for a full week

then the children will be leading the worship service. The people are not re^ily

thing that is for some people but not for most. Still some can be reached by preach

We have been reading of the excessively hot weather in Texas and surrounding areas but it is hard to realize when we are in the middle of the winter. Even the thought that tomorrow is July 4 doesn't mean much since it isn't celebrated here. We are very wet right now and likely to continue that way for a couple of nKinths. Bie temperature

is fairly mild this week. Last week we even had frost one morning so we thought it was exceedingly cold. This week it has been about 50 at night and 60-65 in the day
time. When the sun shines that is very pleasant. On rainy days it is a bit cool. We use our little electric heaters and put on more clothes to be comfortable.

I will sign off now and wish the blessings of God until we meet again.
In His Service,
Hubert Hinten