Auckland for Now

Ever since we arrived in Auckland, and spent our time on Waiheke Island, we have been planning on leaving here and "touring" around the country, wwoofing and camping in various townships and farms, as a way of getting to see the country. Although we never made firm plans, that was the gist of it.

But we also felt that we should ask for guidance from the National Spiritual Assembly of New Zealand, since we planned to assist the Baha'i communities in whatever ways possible as we went. We were lucky enough to arrive in the country just in time for one of the forty-one world-wide conferences that the international Baha'i administration called for, in Auckland at the end of January. And we met wonderful people, many of whom told us about their homes and invited us to come to their neck of the woods. We were asked to assist with one of the sectors' children classes, and then we joined a study circle which, once we complete it this Sunday, will allow us to tutor groups of friends in the Ruhi courses which we have completed. We then took part in the youth and children's camps last month, and the number of friends and contacts has grown. Now we have even more friends scattered around this beautiful country waiting for us to come visit.

A point was made to us the other evening...that our energies would be better spent in a longer, concerted efforts of multiple weeks or even months in fewer areas, than in short bursts as we simply passed through and were essentially "sight-seers". We were given an even more specific instruction to remain in the Auckland area, and continue to participate in direct teaching projects going on here, so that we gained the experience to be able to act as resources for other areas at a later time. The mention was also made about leading a teaching team to Saipan, the island I spent time on last year, which I had hoped to go back to with Ashley someday.

We were asked by the Aotearoa Institute head to act as camp "mother and father" for the next Radiant Youth Program, which will be in the second week of July, and we gladly accepted. There is going to be another outreach teaching campaign at that time, as well as the National Youth conference the prior week, all happening in Auckland.

So after looking for campervans for a couple weeks, all this came to pass and we have realized that we don't need a van to travel the country just yet. We have been given a room at a friends home; she lives just up the hill from the National Centre in the Henderson suburb to the west of Auckland City, and there are goats and cats and cows and birds. We might find a little Toyota or Nissan really cheap if we can, and we are going to try and get some part-time work somewhere nearby. That's it in a nutshell.