POPPA
"When we married in 1960, we made vow to always put God first in our lives and to give at least one tenth (tithe) of our income to the Lord's work. In later years we would sometimes reminisce how little we had to come and go on, but God always provided for us.
"We started our married life managing a farm just out of Auckland. Early mornings milking cows and long days. There were often long nights also as we contributed in every way we could to prayer groups, home groups and youth groups. I played the organ in church, we both taught Sunday school and supported others wherever we could. Our greatest joy was sharing our love of Jesus with friends and discipling new believers.
"I remember in the season, my wife would walk over the paddocks gathering buckets of mushrooms to sell locally. When the first of our three babies was due, my wife used her 'mushroom money' to purchase a cot, pushchair and high chair. We had no spare money but always had hearty meals on the table and enough for everyone. My wife cooked from a large vege garden, bottled fruit, and sewed all the kids clothes. We worked hard and saved, taking advantage of every opportunity we could. We both honoured our marriage vows and took our lifelong commitment to each other very seriously based on love, respect and support.
"We heard of a 95 acre farm for sale at a reasonable price, which if God gave us the go ahead, we were keen to purchase. We joined with family and friends, prayed earnestly and believed that was what God wanted us to do. It was touch and go with prices climbing every day and banks imposing stricter new rules. Not only did we need the funds to purchase our very first farm, we also needed a herd of cows. We counted our meagre savings (including the mushroom money), tried to source a loan from the bank, family, friends, Dairy company on the cows and money the Vendor had pledged to leave in for us for 3 years. We took on 8 loans in total. We believed whenever we prayed and laid our burdens before the Lord, He would answer us and when moments of doubts crept in, we stood firmly on His assurance.
"That first season we set a budget of 30,000lbs (137,000 kgs) of butterfat, and we produced more than our budget and more than the farm had ever produced previously. What an answer to prayer. We had only been able to afford a very average older herd of cows, but still with God's provision we had topped our budget. Every quarter we managed to repay small portions to family and friends, and in every payment received, we honoured the Lord.
"The owner had left in about half the value of the property as a 3 year loan. The first time he came to walk through the property he was very surprised to see all the improvements we had made through our hard work, and conveyed he was keen for us to default on our mortgage so he could take the farm back. I had worked often under the light of the moon rebuilding farm roads and putting metal on races. He pushed up our interest rates hoping we would renege.
"In the 3rd year we re-approached the Rural bank who had refused to loan to us previously. We sat at our kitchen table going over the books with him writing down figures. My wife invited him to stay and join us for lunch. He answered 'according to my figures you cannot afford to give anybody any lunch". She assured him her garden produce was plentiful. We were given the loan, paid off the original owners debt, and then set about upgrading the cow shed to herringbone to improve efficiency. Once again we marveled at God's provision and timing.
"A friend bought a bobcat and needed to test it out. He dug up the pit area breaking up the old concrete. We chipped the old mortar off the blocks and reused them. A nephew doing an apprenticeship stayed with us and did all the welding. We worked through many nights as we had only 6 weeks to make the changeover. A complete changeover with minimum costs, it was unheard of. The metal for the races was a gift from a local quarry that had been shutdown. You can borrow my truck said another neighbour. Another neighbour got a bit cross when at 2am the lights of the truck delivering the metal were shining in his bedroom window. The machinery for the new milking system was purchased at reasonable costs from a farmer changing over from milking cows to kiwifruit.
"We purchased a further 50 acres to upgrade our herd to full Jersey all home grown cows. Our butterfat production had improved dramatically and we had cleared the loans. Eighteen years later we felt it was time to sell when the government brought in a new law to up farmers taxes. This dramatic law change caused us and many other New Zealand farmers great hardship. We made the decision to sell the farm and take advantage of the 20% interest on the funds instead.
"We returned from an overseas mission trip and sabbatical, purchased a section and built a spec home in Nelson. The dramatic change in our lifestyle meant we could enjoy the countryside, friends, go fishing and relax in each others company. Once the house was completed we felt led by the Lord to sell and move to Tauranga where our 3 children lived with their respective spouses.
"We prayed and considered our next project thinking we might buy some land and graze stock. One day we received a phone call from a real estate agent telling us about an 11 acre property without a house, half in kiwifruit and the rest in grazing. The view from the property was outstanding. God directed us at every move. We went ahead and purchased and built our forever home on the hill. At this time there was a glut in the kiwifruit and many orchardists were pulling their kiwifruit out. The land was in 2 titles and we decided if the kiwifruit paid for itself we would keep it. One of the blocks was double planted in green kiwifruit and we took out every second plant and grafted on new gold. This meant the green fruit got better light and produced just as much fruit. We got a further 10 years of gold production, but when PSA [a bacterial disease causing damaging canker on kiwifruit vines] hit the Bay of Plenty in 2011 we were forced to pull out the diseased kiwifruit.
"Over time and always it seemed, at just the right time we sold off several blocks enabling us to live and love comfortably together in harmony with God in the center. Secure in our new home admiring the view, and marveling daily on the abundant blessings of God.
"We had vowed and declared we would base our marriage on God's principles and He honoured and blessed us with abundant love and Joy".
Psalm 116 12: "How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?"