It’s been a year since we came to Timaru. We arrived on 14 August 2012.
We were strangers then. We didn’t know anyone except the Harcourt agent who facilitated our renting of a flat along Evans Street.
After a year, we’re more settled and integrating well into the community.
We are grateful to Wilson Street Baptist Church, Multicultural Believers Fellowship and the Filipino community for helping us.
Let me tell you some of the challenges we encountered when moving to Timaru.
The flat we rented was cold and damp
Because it would be expensive for us to come and check on the place, we rented a flat online.
Only when we arrived that we found out the flat’s location makes you feel like you’re in a cave because there’s a high wall covering the back end and a covered garage at the front.
Five months later, knowing more about our way around town, the Lord led us into a much better flat. We moved to a warm and spacious home with a fantastic view of the ocean, Caroline Bay and Timaru Port.
Finding an electrician
After almost two weeks in our new home, the central heater and some electrical outlets stopped functioning.
We called Harcourts about the problem, and they said we need to pay $85.00 for it to be fixed.
I called an electrician using the Yellow Pages, but the lady who answered the phone said they weren’t doing small electrical jobs.
Then Pastor John McMullan came to the rescue. He asked Bill Blair of Bill Blair Electrical Services to come and fix our problem.
The best thing Bill did for us was to point out that the cause of the power loss wasn’t because of our usage.
The wire was loosely connected to the terminal at the circuit breaker. He told me to take a photo of the loose connection and tell Harcourts, so they will be the ones to shoulder the repair cost.
So Harcourts paid the Bill. 🙂
We need a GP, we got sick, and our daughter had an asthma attack
Yes, we knew Timaru weather was colder than Auckland, but for lack of heating in the flat we were renting, we got colds and were feverish for a week.
Worst, Jadyn had an asthma attack as the season changed to spring.
We thought we could call and set an appointment with any doctor in town. We learned we must enlist with a GP (general practitioner) or family doctor.
We got an appointment through Belinda Dewe’s help, but it fell on a Saturday.
With Jadyn’s asthma getting worst, we had no choice but to see the doctor and get prescriptions for the inhalers and antibiotics on a Saturday when the doctor’s fee doubled.
Advantages of having a caring church community
Based on our experience, I believe that being part of a caring church community is one great advantage in meeting the challenges of moving.
Even if we move to any place in New Zealand or any place in the world, we can always find care and get help from the community of believers.
For sure, there are lots of people in the community who feels that they are left out because of the language barrier or because their places of work are in remote dairy farms or factories.
Thus, we endeavour to pursue a multicultural response ministry to cater to the needs of people who have come to live in Timaru or the South Canterbury area and make them experience the caring church community advantage.
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