6 days later
Our world has changed again.
We are blessed. Our family in Christchurch are safe, and not badly affected.
Here in Timaru, we felt the earthquake. I was about to conduct final funeral prayers for a family at the crematorium. But there was no way of knowing at that moment how severely Christchurch was affected.
I came home to find the internet full of the unfolding drama, and our upstairs office is a most interesting place to be for aftershocks.
Chris' parents were due to fly into Christchurch the following day, and while the airport was closed for checks on Tuesday, they were able to complete their journey, although it took some time and effort to find a rental car. They arrived safely Wednesday night, and we enjoyed having them here for a few days until they continued their journey south, stopping at my parents' home in Oamaru for the weekend and heading off at 9:30 this morning.
Already the children have extras in their classrooms, as Christchurch people plan to be away for months. Many are saying they will never return.
Many in our parish have friends and family in Christchurch. Their houses are full, often with grandchildren. Many are also changing plans to relocate to Christchurch to be nearer family. Others have lost family members or friends.
Some were in Christchurch at the time, and are working through the impact. One lost two workers and a volunteer, and had another member of staff injured as they were working inside a church that collapsed. There will be funerals this week.
We welcomed many visitors on Sunday, a difficult service to plan as we need to remain positive and hopeful for the children, and yet deal realistically with the variety of responses in our parish. People want to help, and yet we must be mindful that we are in this for the long haul. Short term knee jerk responses can be exhausting, and we need to find sustainable ways of being God's hands and feet in the months and years to come.
We are blessed. Our family in Christchurch are safe, and not badly affected.
Here in Timaru, we felt the earthquake. I was about to conduct final funeral prayers for a family at the crematorium. But there was no way of knowing at that moment how severely Christchurch was affected.
I came home to find the internet full of the unfolding drama, and our upstairs office is a most interesting place to be for aftershocks.
Chris' parents were due to fly into Christchurch the following day, and while the airport was closed for checks on Tuesday, they were able to complete their journey, although it took some time and effort to find a rental car. They arrived safely Wednesday night, and we enjoyed having them here for a few days until they continued their journey south, stopping at my parents' home in Oamaru for the weekend and heading off at 9:30 this morning.
Already the children have extras in their classrooms, as Christchurch people plan to be away for months. Many are saying they will never return.
Many in our parish have friends and family in Christchurch. Their houses are full, often with grandchildren. Many are also changing plans to relocate to Christchurch to be nearer family. Others have lost family members or friends.
Some were in Christchurch at the time, and are working through the impact. One lost two workers and a volunteer, and had another member of staff injured as they were working inside a church that collapsed. There will be funerals this week.
We welcomed many visitors on Sunday, a difficult service to plan as we need to remain positive and hopeful for the children, and yet deal realistically with the variety of responses in our parish. People want to help, and yet we must be mindful that we are in this for the long haul. Short term knee jerk responses can be exhausting, and we need to find sustainable ways of being God's hands and feet in the months and years to come.
Labels: Christchurch earthquake
posted by Unknown at 2:18 PM
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