Greetings

As many of you know last week a dear friend of mine, and the home schooling movement in New Zealand, lost her husband in a car accident. I asked you to pray for this family at the time. Here is the news report: http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/8329048/Father-dies-in-Sounds and here is Raewyn’s blog:  http://rabbits-nest.xanga.com/weblog/

Even though Tim and Raewyn live remotely – miles from anyone and anywhere they have been available to help home educators whenever they can. Raewyn has been active in the Nelson and Blenheim Home Education Support Groups over the years. She has also helped lots of people on the phone and over the internet.

Tim and Raewyn have been very generous to home educators over the years as well. They welcomed home educators onto their property and their accommodation (http://www.waterfallbay.co.nz/waterfalllodge.html, http://www.waterfallbay.co.nz/thecottage.html and other buildings as well). If you visited outside the holiday periods and weekends then you could stay in their accommodation for free. A wonderful way for a large home educating family to get a wonderful holiday. The holiday experiences at Port Ligar were one of a kind -not easily repeated elsewhere. Tim would love to show people around, get them involved in the farm work, hunting, fishing or whatever was going on at the time. Nothing was a bother to Tim – he wanted everyone to experience the best of Port Ligar.

When my two oldest came home from nearly 2 years overseas, we celebrated Zach’s 21st at Port Ligar. We were all standing on the wharf one day and Genevieve said something like this “You know, we have travelled a lot over the last 21 months and seen a lot of places. But there is nowhere in the World as beautiful as this.” We loved going to Port Ligar – we didn’t go there enough though, and now both Raewyn and I are on our own – well not on our own completely we still have young children at home and will be home educating them for quite awhile yet.

Funerals are not cheap, even when you do a lot of things yourself like Raewyn’s children have. I have had a few people ask about giving donations to Raewyn.

Tim’s final resting place

If you have been blessed by the Shand family, if Tim has given you a wonderful boat ride over to D’Urville Island, if you have experienced farm life at Port Ligar, if you have been hunting with Tim and his children, or swimming off the wharf, if Raewyn has helped you in your home schooling journey, or encouraged you to keep going when times were tough then maybe now would be a great time to bless Raewyn by giving a donation to her and her children to help with the funeral costs, the helicopter and other expenses. I am sure that this will be a great blessing to Raewyn at the moment and another way to show love and support to them.

Please make your donation to this bank account and please make sure you say that it is a “donation to the Shands” and add your name if you would like Raewyn to know you have given a gift. If you would like a receipt then please include your name and email me your address. Thankyou.
Westpac Bank

Home Education Foundation (This is the name of the account for donations)
030726 0495399 00

my email is barbara@hef.org.nz

I would like to thank those of you who decide to make a donation to Raewyn in advance. It was a great help to me to have some donations to help cover our costs when Craig died. I would love to see Raewyn blessed in this way too. Raewyn has given her time freely to home schoolers  and has encouraged a lot of families over the 26 years we have known her. Let’s bless her now in return.

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Many in the home schooling movement know Tim and Raewyn Shand. Many have experienced their wonderful hospitality.

Yesterday Tim was taken from this family very suddenly.

We are all devastated by this loss. No-one can comprehend what they are going through today. Their loss is so great.

It brings memories flooding back as I try to think what Raewyn might be going through. It is quite different to me as we had two months to come to terms with it. But in actual fact I didn’t have the two months as I always thought that Craig would be cured so it was really only the last day that I thought that he might be dying. Although, because others all thought Craig was dying I was prepared for his death.

This is so very sudden and unexpected for Raewyn. Yes, my heart is aching too and tears are flowing.

Please pray.

Raewyn’s blog:

http://rabbits-nest.xanga.com/

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