We departed from Auckland just hours before a lockdown. We returned to Auckland just hours before another lockdown. It was all kinda odd — and yet we were so conscious of how blessed we were to be free to travel, even in that little window of time.
After teaching a weeklong intensive course, Preaching and Communication in a Contemporary Context, at the University of Otago in Dunedin with Geoff New, Barby and I had our eyes set on taking a few days of annual leave before the summer passed.
The plan was to return to Southland and Central Otago where we pastored a church, in Invercargill, more than thirty years ago. We had seven days, with just one day of rain — and here is the itinerary of our trip, starting and finishing in Dunedin.
Pounawea It was here, at a Christian camp as a teenager, that my father made his commitment to be a missionary. |
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Curio Bay |
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Riverton Oh, how we enjoyed the crumbling sign on the bowling club all those years ago: “Riverton: the Riviera of the South” |
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Cozy Nook Our campervan in the foreground — and Stewart Island in the background. |
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Roxburgh The summerfruit capital of New Zealand, to which we took many a pilgrimage. |
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St Bathans (2) A favourite place of mine — and that is why we have two photos, not one. [NB: And if you gave me a $10 million dollar budget, I have big plans on how to build its beauty even further!] |
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Maniototo The New Zealand that is unfamiliar to most — rocky, dusty, expansive … but still beautiful. |
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As selfies mess with the text, here is a collage. |
If the second week in the Deep South was given to these geographical panoramas, the first week had its own theological panorama. Never have I encountered such a wide theological spectrum in a class. To make it even more demanding, I only knew three (out of thirty) people beforehand and so when the questions flowed, it was so difficult to discern ‘from whence they came’ and then to interact in a way that could be helpful…
About Me

the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.
Recent Posts
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