Travel Journal: Holy Day in New Zealand

By Jim Franks

After a few hitches with our travel schedule, we are now back in the United States. Sharron and I landed safely in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening, April 16, 2014. Our flight out of Fiji was delayed, however, so we missed our connection from Los Angeles to Dallas. Our only option was to spend the night in Los Angeles and travel to Dallas Thursday afternoon.

A day with two sunsets

This has been a great trip, but it is ending on an unusual note. We left Auckland, New Zealand, and landed in Fiji on Wednesday night, April 16. We watched the sun set as we were landing. Our flight from Nadi, Fiji, was delayed until Thursday, April 17, at 5:50 a.m. We left on time according to the delayed schedule, but we arrived in Los Angeles the night before we left! We watched the sun set for the second time as we were landing in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening, April 16!

While I understand the issue with the international date line, it does make life a bit confusing when you are flying from west to east. It is hard to adjust your mind to the fact that you experienced two Wednesday nights—one in Fiji and one in Los Angeles. It was also strange to rebook a flight for “yesterday.”

This will be my last journal entry from our trip. We spent 14 days and traveled almost 20,000 miles. We saw some extraordinary scenery, but the greatest part of the trip was meeting more than 70 brethren from Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga. They are a diverse group, made up of more than 10 different nationalities; but they are warm, friendly and excited about the work of the Church. The trip was encouraging and very inspiring.

Passover webcast

We held a meaningful Passover for 33 members in Auckland with the brethren in Fiji with us on the live webcast. To my knowledge, this is the first time we have webcast a Passover service for a congregation that had no minister present. At least, it is the first time I have ever conducted a Passover service that was webcast to others. From all reports, it went very well.

André van Belkum and I conducted the service in Auckland, and Jeff Caudle flew to Singapore on Saturday evening, April 12, to conduct the Passover and speak on the first day of Unleavened Bread to the members there. He will return to Auckland for the last day of Unleavened Bread.

Night to Be Much Observed

On the Night to Be Much Observed 50 brethren in Auckland gathered for a wonderful meal along with great fellowship. Mr. van Belkum began the evening by welcoming everyone and quoting the verses in Exodus 12 as to the purpose of our gathering.

It is a tradition of the Church for the brethren to enjoy a meal together on the evening that begins the first day of Unleavened Bread. We refer to it as the Night to Be Much Observed from the scripture in Exodus 12. It was on this evening that the children of Israel departed from Egypt with a “high hand” more than 3,000 years ago.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal with a choice of beef or chicken along with all the trimmings. The brethren had arranged for a private dining room and a catered meal. About 90 percent of the Auckland brethren were able to make it. This was truly a special night, and one that Sharron and I will certainly remember for many years to come.

Holy day service

The next day we held an afternoon service on the first day of Unleavened Bread. This was the third time we were together with the group in Auckland within the space of three days. We now knew everyone’s name, and it made for a delightful time of fellowship.

My sermon was on the importance of “little things.” Sin in our lives can be compared to leaven, a little thing. But just as leavening has a big effect on dough, so sin can cause a lot of damage in our lives if it’s not removed. Once leaven does its job, it is impossible to get rid of it. But fortunately for us, God forgives our sins, even those that may have plagued us for a long time.

This is where the analogy with leavening ends. You can’t remove leavening from a loaf of bread once it has done its job, but you can always remove the leavening of sin from your life even if you can’t always remove the consequences of the sin. That is the encouraging message of these days: Christ died for us and because of that we can be forgiven, no matter the sin.

Video interviews

I took a lot of video during this trip, and I am looking forward to showing some of it on In Accord beginning next week. I was able to interview all four elders in the region: Jeff Caudle, André van Belkum, Art Verschoor, and Heamasi Ta’ufo’ou. And I also interviewed four of the Fijian brethren on the Sabbath.

In the case of the ministers, I asked them to give the story of their conversion and the challenges they face serving in the ministry in this part of the world.

One of the more emotional moments was when Mrs. Ta’ufo’ou wanted to comment during my interview with her husband. With tears in her eyes, she just wanted to thank me for my efforts to visit the brethren who live in remote areas. While I didn’t need any additional encouragement to continue visiting the brethren no matter where they live, it was moving to hear her describe those efforts from her perspective.

Of course, I am not the only one who visits the brethren in remote areas of the world. We have several dedicated ministers who have given their lives to traveling the world to help and encourage the brethren. I truly appreciate each one of them and their wives for their loving support.

Photo of brethren in Auckland

Here is a picture of part of the group that was together in Auckland on the holy day. This picture was taken after services and was an impromptu effort organized by several of the members while fellowshipping at the end of the day. Unfortunately some had already left, so we failed to get everyone in the picture. 

After an inspiring day filled with worship and fellowship, we ended the first holy day of this year by eating another meal with a group of eight brethren, including two elders, Art Verschoor and André van Belkum, and Mr. van Belkum’s wife, Elize.

On the plane from Auckland to Fiji and then on to Los Angeles, Sharron commented that this was one of our best trips ever. I certainly agreed! It was long and tiring, but the brethren we met were so excited to see us. I realize that words are cheap when one writes or talks about unity and peace; but if you could have been with us, I believe you would have agreed that the congregations in the South Pacific region are at peace and very excited about the work that is being done by the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. I hope to see them all again one day on another trip.

From Los Angeles,

Jim Franks