Life has been very busy at the Mission since my last blog. The detailed drawings have been finalised and been submitted to the Christchurch City Council for Building Consent. We hope to have the application granted sometime in May. The next step after that is to go out to tender. This is very exciting and marks another major step in us getting the new building that the Mission needs. Lots of money still needs to be raised and we are also busy doing this. We are now well over half way towards our target.
All of our services are feeling the pressure with expanding demands placed on them. I feel so proud of the way that the staff are coping with this. Recently we had a series of articles about the City Mission appear in the Press. You can read these on the website. We were able to allow the reporter access to our services as we have absolute confidence in the work that is done at the Mission.
We have had some illness among staff at the Mission and we would be grateful for your prayers for those staff and their families who are unwell.
Easter is now over and I hope that you all had a great time. Yesterday I went to Wellington to meet with the City Missioners from Auckland and Wellington. It is great that while we work in different areas we all have the interests of the poor at heart and strive for social justice. After the meeting, I was able to visit some of the family and catch up with what the grandchildren are doing.