In the evening I walked up the Wither Hills behind Blenheim, the Sun was setting and the mist creeping up the valley from the sea.

The soft light turning the mist to a gentle orange hue gave me a photographers delight.

However I rejoice in that this is God's world. We are so attacked by warnings of global warming and pollution that here in Marlborough where vast areas are covered with vines all seems so peaceful and as far away from anywhere as possible.

I reminded people on Sunday in my message that we are promised a new heaven and a new earth. While we agree to much symbolism in the Revelations of St John, the point is that as Christians we are people of a different world, while being called to demonstrate responsible dominion over this one.

 Our Evangelism training is progressing
We have 17 people in training here to share their faith and we do it gently and yet positively.

In evangelism is is essential to avoid any sort of aggressive push, we are not selling God only telling people of the good news of eternal salvation. We can do this only when the Holy Spirit of God warms people to receive our message.

The joy is that as we pray for people about us miracles happen and people are indeed open to our message of the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ received by faith.

 Sheep with a view of Blenheim and the town spreading in the valley below.

Mist rising to the mountains on the other side of the valley.

 We are now in Marlborough I am serving as locum in St Christopher's church in Blenheim. The area is known for its wine and vineyards stretch for vast distances in all directions.

We are in God's vineyard and teaching people to share their faith. It is a wonderful privilege to be in such a beautiful part of the world and to serve the Lord and His people at the same time.

 It was in this bay that we saw one of the native pigeons, they are resident at this time of year and then disappear for a season.

One of the exciting things for us is to have 21 people in training, the church is alive when the Lord leads us to share our faith gently and creatively with people in His season.

New Zealand has young mountains unlike the old hard rock basalt mountains in Tasmania. the mountains in the Marlborough region are clad with clay that slips when wet creating great scars in the velvet green slopes. and the rivers are actively carving out the country.

Sharing one's faith must never leave scars in the lives of people, Evangelists have been too harsh in the past. We teach people to ask the Holy Spirit to lead them to people already seeking the Lord. Faith has to be shared in relationship and ministered to seekers with the gentleness and love of God.

 We left Tasmania for New Zealand with a feeling that once again we had discovered a very special part of God's creation and with new friends back in Launceston we feel we must surely return soon.

Queenstown in Tasmania is a mining community, but there is a very special beauty even in this industrial landscape

The Boat house on the lake at cradle mountain offers a great subject for anyone with a camera, here I have framed it in the gum tree and branch leading across the shed places the subject near the third line for composition purposes.

I will post more shots of Tasmania as time goes by but for now Sylvia and I have taken up the locum of St Christopher's in Blenheim South in New Zealand so you are likely to get some shots from there pretty soon.

The highlands of Tasmania are fascinating, the Western Tiers lead you to a large plateau. The first time we ascended to this part of the island the cloud came down to road level and we could hardly see the road edge so we crept back to lower ground.

Later ,we were able to make it to Cradle Mountain, we were taken on this occasion by some long time friends in Christ who have moved to the island from Western Australia. There we were in snow, the wind was biting and such a change from the warmer valleys.  The picture above shows Cradle Mountain emerging from behind the foreground.

Mystic Tasmania

Sylvia and I have been leading 'share your faith' seminars for St. John’s Launceston and in our time off we have ventured into the beauty spots of this picturesque state.

The shot below was taken from the path that leads to St.  Columba Falls, the highest falls in Tasmania.  To the background of the continuous roar of the falling water this dingle expressed the mystic peace found in the rain forests in this part of the world.