Recently a regular reader of Kōrero suggested I interview my photographer – who happens to be my beloved husband – a suggestion that was met with amusement at the time! But on reflection, he’s an intriguing fellow and worthy of article space (bias acknowledged)!

Evan is a coffee-loving, marmite-spreading lark, who has a definite preference for iPhones over Androids. Now retired (early, he points out!), days are spent devoting time to the things that spin his wheels, like intentionally getting out with the camera, a revisited passion that energises him. It's fed by his involvement with the Camera Club, and volunteering at the Left Bank Art Gallery, relishing time spent amongst other creatives. He is part of the local Fire Brigade, squeezes in time to keep fit on foot, by bike or at the gym, and the back yard is becoming propagated not only with a fine productive garden, but with radio waves as Ham Radio aerials spawn aplenty, connecting old friends and new.

When enquiring about Ev’s roots he responds, “I think your roots are where you put them, and where you water them.” 

Originally born in Warkworth, he was raised in South Auckland, spent twenty-five years in Otago, and now feels right at home on the West Coast. Each move, although not always seen at the time, was in response to the stirring of God. This he likens to Abraham, raised in Ur of the Chaldees, being called to a Promised Land not of his birth, and there finding a home to settle.

As Ev speaks to this story of pilgrimage its clear God’s hand has been all over it! Not hailing from a home that honoured the Lord, his first whiff of the gospel was through the radio waves, tuning in to HCJB, a Christian radio station broadcasting from Quito, Ecuador. The message was underlined by a beautiful young woman (a blonde, he tells me), singing on the streets of Auckland, “Jesus is the answer for the world today”, and Ev took note, but only in passing. Years later, having moved from Auckland to Dunedin for a Telecom work promotion, a workmate invited him to church for the very first time, Ev now broken and ready to respond after a short but difficult marriage failure. It was here Ev opened his heart to Jesus (and met the woman of his dreams, just saying!).

Ev’s had a variety of work roles in his life, but two in particular are standouts. The first was as lab technician at the Portobello Marine Lab on the Otago Peninsula. Living on site meant participating in occasional search and rescue operations, and keeping watch as the residents of nearby Quarantine Island made the short but sometimes perilous crossing over the channel between.

The only actual rescue that ever occurred was of a sheep who’d leapt from a passing stock truck into the briny, keen to escape the meat works.

Said sheep was fondly named Marino and lived out her days in happy comfort on the vegetarian lab manager’s property nearby.

The call of the wild came in 2008 when the family, now complete with small child, moved to the Coast, a pivot point in life, ushering in a slower pace of living and miles of uninhabited wilderness to explore. The plan was to downsize, live simply and enjoy the journey, an indirect and complex pathway as it happened. A stint in various part time and unrewarding roles eventually led to becoming a signalling technician with Kiwirail, based at Otira, now a small alpine town on the Midland Line just west of the main divide. His section of line incorporated the Otira Tunnel, an incredible feat of engineering, and a vital asset to keep goods and passengers moving efficiently between the Coasts.

This job was not without excitement, and protective angels were often kept on high alert.

One such day Ev arrived home sporting a broad grin, and on inquiry told his beloved, “Nearly got run over by a train today!”

Having been given authority to drive on track across a curved railway bridge, he discovered the TranzAlpine Passenger train travelling towards him. With no way to exit the vehicle, it was thrust into rapid reversal while the loco brakes were applied with force, both screeching to a halt. Blessedly the loco driver heard by radio that someone was crossing a bridge nearby, though not which one. Just in case, he slowed to half speed, a life-altering decision. Had he still been going full speed, the outcome would have been fatal. Truly the intervening work of El Roí, the God who sees us!

Being a lover of the great outdoors, Ev’s fitness is put to the test on many intrepid adventures with others from the Cobden congregation where he worships regularly, and he finds the awe and wonder of the wild spaces a very real place to behold God and abide more closely. In addition to his Cobden connections, He’s loving getting to know the local crew who gather at Kumara, as he co-leads an initiative called “Making Space” on a weekday afternoon.

Our coffee conversation quiets momentarily when Ev is asked about whether there was something others may not know about him, before he reveals a couple of deeply meaningful works of body art. The first, a cross made of three rough Roman nails, is tattooed onto his forearm, site of a birthmark gifted by an inherited medical condition that has been the source of pain and shame for him over the decades. These nails, similar to those his Saviour willingly endured, are a reminder to Ev and a conversation starter with others, that Jesus’ gruesome death paid the price to redeem our past, and to release us from the scourge of shame. The second is a kea, funny and faithful mountain parrot of the Alps, perched on a rock, wings lifted high in glorious technicolor about to take flight. Ev has had many kea encounters and this artwork reminds him that his own colours are most prevalent in flight, doing what he was made to do, and that his security is assured by returning again and again to the Rock, solid and dependable. Deep and powerful stuff!

As Ev imagines himself twenty years from now, looking back to the present with a word of encouragement, his wisdom for today’s Evan is, “Well done fella! Well done for dealing with depression and for never giving up. Well done for working hard on your marriage and building an incredible partnership. Well done for being an awesome Dad, even in the uncharted waters."

"You’re okay, you’ve always been okay, and the things you see as limitations and barriers, God uses for good."

"Just keep abiding, remembering how much you are loved, nurturing your connection with a couple of trusted friends, and doing the next thing God puts in front of you.” 

Thanks Ev for the reminder that in our dark and silent places, in surprise and unexpected places, and in the awe-filled open places, God is faithful, we are loved, and we are never alone.