What a journey we are all on!  I can't imagine what it must be like for those who have loved family members or friends on top of all the difficulties we are facing.  We grieve for you and for our broken city.  The only way I can think of to show this is to work hard to restore our city as a living memorial to the past and a brighter future for the next generation.

I think we are all tired, a bit sad, determined, frustrated and generally pushing on through the best we can.  I'm encouraging people to take a break away if they possibly can, or do something nice for themselves at the least. We need some lifting up from the dust and silt.

At St Albans Baptist, we have been fortunate to have almost finished building extensions that are light and airy, able to be opened up for use by a variety of groups. 
If you feel like meeting up with others in nice surroundings and enjoying a yummy lunch, pop in on Wednesdays or Thursdays, between 12 - 1.30pm.  Bring your friends. We will eventually get round to putting in a donations box, but you are welcome to just come and enjoy.
 
During March we were open for lunch every day and just loved having the opportunity to share with others in our community.  For April (and probably May), we have reduced the days to Wed/Thurs, as many of our lovely volunteers who were helping in the kitchen have gone back to work.  We salute Pam Ashby, who worked tirelessly all through this time, planning and providing tasty food for the 30 - 55 people who arrived each day (620 meals in Feb/March) and to Peter Larsen who ran the drop-in. Thanks to Baptist Ministries for financially supporting this initiative.

I'm proud of the amazing people who formed the teams who went out each day to shovel silt, fix doors and windows, stabilise chimneys and generally clean up people's properties.  Thanks to William Drury-Turnbull and Geoff Chambers who coordinated this side of the operation.

Wendy Green is a legend around here, stepping into a role of coordinating a massive door-knocking programme to over 5,500 homes in the the worst hit part of Shirley/St Albans.  Our fantastic volunteers took out water and food before power went back on, listened to people's stories, and filled out Ministry of Social Development forms to help map what is happening in our community.  We are still going walking around Mairehau, checking how people are and letting them know we are here to help.  If you need help with transport to go shopping or to get to an appointment, give Wendy a ring on 355 6522.