Countdown to Seminary

We are in the final weeks now!  Only three weeks until we arrive in LA.  Just in case you're wondering what our travel plans are:

Sunday, 10 July - final Sunday at Riverbend Bible Church.  We fly to Auckland at 3:15 pm, staying with our family for two nights before heading out.

Tuesday, 12 July - 1:00 pm flying to Nadi on Air Pacific.  We get to spend a night in Fiji, just for fun!  Well actually, the Lord provided these flights for us at an amazing deal of half price of what it would've been if we didn't stay overnight.  Who could say no to a night on a tropical island??  We made sure to get a hotel with a pool and a waterslide (yippeee!)

Wednesday, 13 July - Fly to Los Angeles on Air Pacific.  We leave Fiji at 10:15 pm, and arrive in LA at 1:20 pm... within an hour of the Majors (our NZ friends/"family") who are flying direct on Air New Zealand.

It feels so strange to be packing up, moving, selling our posessions... but to be honest, it really hasn't sunk in yet.  I don't think we'll realize it's happened until we're actually in the air, flying away from the South Pacific.  Please pray for us over the next few weeks as we go through many good-byes to dear friends and family.  We need God's help each day, so please pray for us.  What a blessing that His mercies are new every morning.  Great is His faithfulness!

A Beautiful Wedding

One month ago, Reuben & I had the privilege of attending my sister Hilly's wedding in Portland, OR.  Hilly married Nick on the 7th of May, and it was such a special day for all.  I'm sure the photographer took hundreds of photos on the day, but we are still waiting to see them!  Here's one to give you an idea, because the first question always is: What colour were your dresses?  As you can see, Hilly chose a smattering of bright, springy colours to brighten up the Portland spring (ha ha!)

Thanks, Nick and Hill, for letting us share in your special day.  We love you very much :)

L-R: Lizzy (Hill's friend from WA), Kitty (our eldest sister), Hilly (the baby!), me, Megan (Hill's best friend frrom Canada), and Mandy (Hilly's new "sister" in WA)

Thanks for the flowers, but...

Last week Verity had an overnight stay in the hospital after a small surgery to remove endometriosis.  All went well and she is recovering very well at home now.  We have been very grateful to receieve many kind texts, phone calls, emails, visits, meals, and... flowers.  They are very gorgeous and smell lovely, and have brightened our room. 

Meanwhile, Reuben has been noticing pain in his right ear, which has affected his hearing the last few days.  This morning he went to the doctor to have it looked at, and (believe it or not) his ear drum is inflamed and has some fluid there too.  The doctor said it looked like he was suffering from hay fever and the symptoms were present in his ears, but it's the wrong season... then he mentioned the flowers in the house and bingo!  The doctor is sure they are the cause. 

So Reuben was given a prescription for some nasal spray to clear everything up and hopefully remedy the ear drum situation before his flight to Portland for Hilly's wedding. 

I find it quite an ironic cycle of events that the very things given to us to help Verity recover from surgery caused Reuben to visit the doctor!!

Accepted!

We are very excited, as you can see from the photo... the U.S. Consulate accepted our visa application and we are officially allowed to study at TMS this "Fall" (aiming to fly out mid-July).  Thank you for praying, we thank the Lord for granting us this next step along the journey to seminary. 

The immigration officer was quite relaxed, which made us relax.  He even tried to catch me off-guard by saying "Everything looks good except, on your record here Verity, it shows you have robbed a bank in Dunedin?!"  I was hoping they weren't going to find out about that one - ha ha :)  I guess everyone wants to have a bit of comic relief in their day, even if you work at the consulate!

It was a real blessing to go to this interview, as we flew up to Auckland on Thursday night and stayed with Dad/DP/Lawrence that night and got to spend some time with Reuben's sisters as well. Our interview was a real breeze, and we were finished much earlier than anticipated, which meant that we got to spend some more family time together. We enjoyed an early morning walk around the Viaduct with Dad, coffees/chai in hand! We also met up with Jillian and Kirstie (Reuben's sisters) and our youngest nephew and niece, Joshua and Briana... we all enjoyed ice cream and walk along Takapuna beach.

Exciting News!

Dear family and friends,


We write to you at this time, asking you to pray with us as we seek to determine our next step in life, trusting that whatever the outcome will be God’s best for us, and He will be glorified.

Reuben’s year of full-time study at TSBC (Hastings, NZ) has been a huge encouragement to us in many ways. We are very blessed by the fellowship of believers at Riverbend Bible Church, and equally blessed by the material that Reuben has been studying. We knew that this course would give Reuben a taste of more intensive Biblical studies, and he has thoroughly enjoyed it. We have sensed God leading us in the direction of pastoral ministry – studying and preaching God’s Word, and using it alone as the tool for ministering to people’s lives. This year has definitely confirmed our desire for pastoral ministry, gifting in it, and commitment to it. While we have been equipped from this course, we believe that we would be more effective by taking a further step in our training for a lifetime of ministry.

We have just met with the elders of our home church (RBC), to see if they would endorse us in going to The Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles to study full-time. We have considered training there for quite some time and recently, with the encouragement and affirmation of many folk, we applied for the Bachelor of Theology programme (three years), and were accepted. Even so, we wanted to fully submit our decision to our elders, trusting in their wisdom and God-given authority. The elders at RBC have given their full support in committing to pray, encourage, and give pastoral oversight while we are over in LA, away from home. We see this as both an imperative and a blessing as we look ahead and try to picture our time at TMS.

This is a great encouragement to us, but we recognize that the journey to seminary is still a lengthy process. School commences mid-August 2011, but we have significant financial and visa hurdles to overcome before we can go.

Our end goal is to return to NZ and serve in churches here. Please write to us if you have any questions (reubenandverity@gmail.com), we would love to talk with you more.

Love and God bless,

Reuben and Verity

What are the Pickerings doing?

Our vehicle back to NZ (thanks to Verity's family)

Since returning from Christmas with Verity’s side of the family in Canada on January 21st, Reuben has had an opportunity to preach at Auckland Bible Church where he grew up. It was a special time for him as he was able to share what he loves with many familiar faces. We thank the Lord for this blessed time.



"Welcome Home Picks!"



Then it was back to Havelock North where we were greeted by dear friends at the Napier airport. It was great to be welcomed home with a big sign in the window (see picture). Verity got back into her jobs right away (church office, linen shop, piano students), while Reuben went job hunting Monday morning. He put his name down at a few places and then bought a couple of groceries at New World, Hastings. On his way out, he just wondered if they had any full-time jobs available...next minute he had a full-time job at the checkout and started within the week! Wow, God is good. We’re so thankful that he didn’t have to search for long, and that they arranged his shifts around his upcoming class schedule.

So, we are both working full-time and will be taking three evening classes at The Shepherd’s Bible College finishing in July, 2011. Reuben is taking Beginning Greek, Cults & False Religions, Introduction to Missions. Verity it taking English Grammar & Sentence Diagramming, Hermeneutics, and Introduction to Missions.

Last Sunday we began teaching a Sunday School class (5-7 year olds) at church. We’re teaching through a curriculum, ‘Jesus, What a Saviour’ with two other teachers – so we only teach every third week. We really enjoyed the first one and are excited to get to know all 30 kids, starting with remembering their names!

Family & Friends

Verity with two of her dear friends.  These girls (Christa left, and Kayla right) were friends since age five and had LOTS of catching up to do!!  Kayla is now the proud mother of little Jacob, four months old.

Skating at the outdoor rink in Kelowna, near the harbour of Okanagan Lake.  I bought a pair of skates for $5!!

The three Boyce girls and their guys.  Logan & Kathleen, Reuben & Verity, Nick & Hillary (getting married 7 May 2011!)

Reuben has been loving the winter wonderland!  A fresh snowfall the other day meant it was time to get suited up and built some snowmen.  Unfortunately, the next day it warmed up to above zero in the afternoon and both our snowmen melted :(

Reuben & Verity - Happy Second Anniversary!! (7 Jan/11)