Post No.8 - Redding, USA

Sister & Brother

Outside Kabod House, Redding

Well, we arrived in Redding in one piece after an uneventful flight across the Atlantic with Virgin Atlantic. The only glitch was not being able to catch-up with Martyn & Emma Sargeant (whose house we used) on their way into Heathrow as we were leaving. Their flight from Miami was delayed due to hurricane Isaac; we missed them by about 45 min. I would have preferred to tell them about the stolen bikes face to face rather than them finding this out in the letter we had left. But never mind, such is life! We were met at SFO (San Francisco airport) by my sister, Jenni, and her husband, Grant, who had come down from Seattle especially to meet us. It was great to come out of Arrivals and see their welcoming wave and smiling faces. We drove directly to Redding through a very busy and congested city, the free-way being up to 5-6 lanes wide at times, and grid-locked due to early rush-hour traffic. We saw the Golden Gate bridge from a distance, and the trip across the Oakland bridge was amazing. The trip up the Sacramento valley was just great. It is a very wide (further than the eye can see in places), flat and highly fertile farming region surrounded on either side by dry and quite barren hills. The I5 (Interstate free-way) runs its entire length and on through to Oregon (it actually runs all the way from southern California to Seattle). The off-ramps are numbered by the miles from its beginning. The one opposite where we are staying is 681 - that's a mother of a long road and indicates what a huge country the USA is. Most of the 3 hour trip was shrouded in smoke from wildfires burning in the hills; a number of these had done considerable damage.

The Bethel Church Complex

The NZ flag flying at Bethel

Bethel Prayer Centre

We arrived in Redding tired but happy, about 6.30 pm, only to find that the people who owned our accommodation had left the area and the property manager they had left in charge had forgot about us. However, after a phone call (praise God for cell phones) it was all sorted out and we were given the combination for the lock. The place is just great - totally ideal for our 4 week stay, and it even has a swimming pool, much to Lenda's delight! We threw our gear in the house and headed off into town for tea and supplies. This was quite a mission due to the smoke haze, gathering dusk and Grant not being very familiar with Redding. After tea Grant and Jenni took us to meet one of the staff at Bethel they had got to know when their daughter Katie (my niece) had attended the School of Supernatural Ministry. This is a great contact for us and will open a number of doors for us to explore the culture of Bethel. Later that night another Bethel associate, whose name is Chuck (Canadian) came over to meet us (actually, to meet Grant and Jenni) and again, this will be very beneficial. It shows that the old adage is true - it's not what you know, but who you know that counts! Today we had lunch with Stephen Hatley, who works in the missions department of Bethel. He explained how the Bethel community worked and gave us a list of events and ministries that we were free to participate in. I'll tell you some more about these over the next few weeks.

Smoke haze over Redding

First impressions of Redding: It reminds us a lot of Australia! Its hot, very hot (over 40 degrees at times), dry and the bush has similarities to Aussie bush - and it's smoky, as Aussie is at times. Also, many of the houses are built in the bush, which makes then very prone to fire, just like Aussie. Redding is very spread out with no real commercial centre as such as there are retail stores and food outlets all over the place. And they are all connected by a network of  huge multi-lanned and busy roads. They say Americans drive everywhere, and here is no exception! Our original plan was not to have a car (not affordable) and to walk everywhere. Praise God that Jenni (and the Holy Spirit) knew what Redding was like and decided to lend us her car for the duration of our stay; we would be sunk without it. But learning to drive on these roads and on the right-hand side has been a mission in itself. But we are still married! And we are getting the hang of it, and day by day learning the layout of the city is making it easier; we can even make our way around now without the GPS! Today the smoke cleared, and for the first time we had blue sky and could see the greater Redding area; that also helps in finding ones way around!

Lenda with Susanna & Andrew

But enough is enough! We'll share some more impressions in our next Post. Tomorrow we are participating in a weekly healing service/event; We need to go and write a list of the parts of our bodies that need healed.We're going to be like the lame man who went leaping and jumping and praising God! Blessings, Ian & Lenda

 PS. We meet up with Andrew & Susanna Wilson from Otane; they are over here for a year; Susanna is enrolled in the school of ministry.  It was great to have a coffee and a chat!

Our swimming pool. God is good!