Baptist Magazine v135 n1

Baptist Churches of New Zealand

baptistmag.org.nz

An unmissable light

Re-envisioning discipleship

A fervour for justice

Making poverty personal

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE †EXPECT GREAT THINGS, ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS

| F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 1 9 | v. 1 3 5 n o . 1 |

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Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.

46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

42

Recently added BEING A MISSIONARY KID The daughter of Baptist missionaries reflects on being a ‘third culture kid’.

~ PATRICIA BOOTH

FEAR: A DEVIATION FROM TRUST IN GOD Finding freedom from fear and emotional pain.

~ JANENE FORLONG

NEW! Check out our book reviews now online at baptistmag.org.nz/reviews

EDITOR Linda Grigg | linda@baptistmag.org.nz GLOBAL MISSION EDITOR Greg Knowles GRAPHIC DESIGNER Rebecca McLeay

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E B I R C S B U S

— Printing Image Print, Auckland — Front cover photography Hilary Beath — Scripture Unless otherwise specified, Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ — Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand or the magazine’s editorial team.

— The NZ Baptist Magazine is the magazine of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand and the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society.

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“Follow”— pursue, imitate, heed

CONTENT 04 07

FEATURE

Re-envisioning discipleship

EDITOR’S PICK CREATIVITY

Creativity plays hide and seek

08 A word from the editor Welcome to our first issue for 2019. This year our themes are loosely taken from Acts 2:42-47 in the New Testament, which is about the life of the early church. Each issue will focus on one of these verses. This time it is ‘Follow’ (vs 42), about being a disciple of Christ.

We kick the magazine off with a feature article that calls for us to re-envision discipleship in light of the Western church’s cultural displacement from the centre of society to the margins.

Two contributors explore the part that advocacy and self-sacrifice play in being a Jesus follower, and a young writer encourages us to put faith above feelings in our Christian walk. Although the latter is in our ‘Young Adults’ column, surely this is a message relevant to all ages!

There is an article celebrating a leadership couple who have been role models in the way they love Christ, his church, and people in general. Their story reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s admonition: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

We introduce you to the newly elected and returning members of Assembly Council. And we are also pleased to present the first of a regular ‘Creativity’ column by our current President, Beulah Wood.

As usual, there are stories, news snippets and profiles from across our Baptist movement. The feedback we receive shows these are always well-received, as a way of connecting, encouraging and inspiring us all.

Keep them coming!

~ Blessings to you Linda Grigg

10 12 14 17 31 33

CULTURE

A fervour for justice

YOUNG ADULTS

Faith over feelings

LEADERSHIP

Building for the future

NEIGHBOURHOOD & JUSTICE

Making poverty personal

OUR STORIES

DIRECTORY

GLOBAL MISSION

Expect great things, attempt great things Stories Small bites Opportunities to serve

Baptist / F E A T U R E

RE-ENVISIONING

A response to the flashing neon sign

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Many of our Baptist churches are experiencing a declining number of attendees at Sunday services, and a significant reduction in the number of people being baptised. Sadly, this is not just a Baptist phenomenon, but rather evidence of the pervasive underlying predicament of Western churches. Rick Pierce explains why this may not be all bad news.

Cultural displacement Such a time of disorientation is an invitation to ask the hard questions about our identity and our calling: What does it mean today to be people in a covenantal relationship with our God and with one another? How do we renew our calling as people of mission in a very different (secular) context?

Perhaps it begins with a realisation and acceptance of what has transpired. In many respects, we can identify with the Kingdom of Judah in Old Testament times.

Life in Jerusalem, situated around the temple, changed dramatically as many of the Jews were taken into Babylonian exile. As the Jews experienced the anguish, alienation and hopelessness of being strangers in a strange land, it became a pivotal time in their nation’s history and in their relationship with God. Questions were asked: Where is God in all of this? Has God abandoned us?

HOPE COMES THROUGH K N O W L E D G E T H AT G O D IS STILL WITH US.

While we haven’t been taken into exile in another country, we may have voiced similar questions as we try to make sense of our cultural displacement in a 21st century Western context.

Making shalom visible An important part of our journey may involve us grieving: recognising any sense of loss we are feeling, as society has radically changed around us; letting go of what has been; and grasping a renewed vision of the future. Hope comes through knowledge that God is still with us, as indeed he was for the Jews. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God reassured the Jews of his continued presence with them, even in exile. While God’s people were displaced from the temple, from Jerusalem and from the Promised Land—those aspects of life that signified God’s power and presence—the vision of Ezekiel 1 shows God coming to them and being present with them in Babylon. God later describes himself as “a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone” (Ezekiel 11:16 NIV).

Even in exile, he was still God, the Jews were still his people and he was still in control. With this revelation, the Jews needed to rediscover what it meant for them to be the people of God living in the pagan Babylonian Empire.

That awareness came through the prophet Jeremiah, as God instructed his people to “seek the peace [shalom] and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.

Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7 NIV).

Cornelius Plantinga Jr describes shalom as, “the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight... In the Bible shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight.”1 Such a vision of what God desires has not changed. Shalom will ultimately become a fulfilled reality when Christ returns, bringing all things together under his reign. Until then, the church is called to help make shalom visible, something we can only do through grace as we participate in the life of our triune God. A re-envisioned discipleship In our 21st Century ‘Babylon’, where much of society seems to be unravelling itself from anything to do with God, discipleship requires a re-envisioning. We need to regain a shared vision of what it means for us to be the people

v.135 no.1 † rima 05

Hamish Clark/unsplash.com

A

poignant moment from the first evening of the 2010 Baptist Assembly (now Hui), held at Otumoetai Baptist Church, is etched firmly in my mind. Rodney McCann, then National Leader, urged those gathered to voice aloud, “We are in decline.” If, at that point, Rodney was addressing the elephant in the room, today the same message is broadcast by a flashing neon sign.

The church in the West is experiencing a cultural displacement, from the centre of society towards the margins, as evidenced by the recent McCrindle Report Faith and Belief in New Zealand. While this seemingly paints a negative outlook, we can conversely view this as a key transition time through disorientation to new orientation. It is a time of great opportunity and potential, as new forms and structures emerge to facilitate the churches’ embodied life of the gospel and its missional role in living out and proclaiming the gospel.

Baptist / F E A T U R E

Our Baptist ecclesiolog y is ideally suited to the cultural times we are experiencing. of God, to be people who, together ‘in Christ’, embody his life and make visible his shalom.

This does not involve the church assimilating into secular culture or withdrawing from the world. Rather it means engaging the day-to-day realities of life as we live together in Christ, sharing in the life of God. Such a life, by the very nature of God, becomes distinctive from the culture, ironically pushing us further to the margins of society. However, it is from here that the church regains its prophetic voice, demonstrating by its life together a revelation of divine life— the grace, love and shalom of God.

Living out what we believe So what does it look like for the [Baptist] people of God to share life together in Christ, evidencing this shalom? How are we providing evidence of the life of God through embodying his life in community?

There is no silver bullet on the way forward but it’s here we realise our Baptist ecclesiology is ideally suited to the cultural times we are experiencing. Each local church stands under the direct rule of the risen Christ, experiencing its life through being in Christ. Each local church determines who God is calling them to be and what he is calling them to do, in their particular community. It is built up through each member being empowered to contribute his or her God-given gifts. Each local church is to become a dynamic, Spirit-inspired, self-giving, self-denying, self-emptying, authentic, loving and grace-filled community that makes visible the life of God they are sharing in.

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Such evidence of God’s life is obviously more than a group of people gathering at a set time, at a given place, for corporate worship on a Sunday. In saying this, I’m not casting doubt on the importance of the gathered community in which Christ is present, but rather what we have limited it to. We need to recognise that each time two or three gather around the Word and in Spirit, the Spirit freshly constitutes the church.

Christ is present; Christ is speaking.

Our role as God’s people is to discern the mind of Christ in what needs to become a more participatory ‘conversation’ in which all those present find the freedom to contribute (providing opportunities to hear the voice of those on the margins of our churches). It’s therefore not our gathering, but how we arrange our gatherings (of at least two or three people) to facilitate the life of the church, that’s key in helping us flourish in our life together.

How are we organising leadership through our faith communities to facilitate our sharing in the life of Christ? How are we structuring our faith communities so small groups are relationally connected to larger mid-size groups, which in turn are relationally connected to larger groups still (representing one of our 240 or so churches throughout Aoteoroa, covenanted together as the New Zealand Baptist family). How are we as churches connected to other churches in our locality, whether Baptist or those of other denominations?

The formation of concentric circles of relationship serve to demonstrate the life of God in which we all participate as his people, thereby making that life visible and known to others.

The life of Christ, present in all sized communities, remains the source of a church’s life. As we experience this life, fulfilling the many ‘one another’ instructions of life together in the New Testament, and as we embody Christ’s life in who we’re becoming as a church, we’ll discover that discipleship sparks creative, innovative

and Spirit‑inspired mission initiatives to seek the shalom of our local communities. For example, it may be through a social enterprise initiative where business becomes a tool for mission; or serving the needs of those with mental illness; or reaching across ethnicities and helping those new to the country with their integration. Again, we recognise our Baptist ecclesiology provides an ideal form for each church to facilitate these new, unique and personal forms of community life under the rule of Christ.

If we discern the times, recognising the presence and rule of Christ in our gatherings and as our source of life, we’ll become churches that live out what we believe. Perhaps one day a future National Leader will then be able to stand at our annual Hui and have those gathered boldly proclaim, “We’re embodying the gospel; we’re growing like a mustard seed; we’re making the life of God visible. All glory to the grace and love of God!” Then again, he or she won’t have to, because it will already be proclaimed clearly by a flashing neon sign!

Story: Rick Pierce Rick is Pastor, Spiritual Formation, at Windsor Park Baptist Church. Rick and the pastors involved in the PressingOn initiative are in the process of designing a 33-week teaching series, Faith and Life in New Zealand 2019. It’s a journey aimed at re-envisioning their church communities for a life of discipleship in our 21st century Western context.

To find out more about PressingOn visit pressingon.org.nz.

1. C Plantinga Jr, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 10.

Baptist / C R E A T I V I T Y

In our 2018 readership survey, some people voiced the need to ‘have their say’. Our new website makes provision for you to write ‘letters to the editor’ using a simple online form. You can also comment directly on online articles, many of which have been in the print magazine, or submit stories or article ideas for consideration.

Submission guidelines are under the ‘Submit’ section of our website: baptistmag.org.nz.

Comments and letters that support the Baptist magazine’s mission are particularly welcomed. Our mission is: To provide news, information and stories relevant to Baptists’ ministry and mission at home in Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad.

Our aim is to create a sense of connection across our geographically spread-out and diverse movement, and to encourage and inspire our readers to step out in faith in their own context.

We will feature one or two such comments or letters In the Editor’s Pick column each issue.

Linda Grigg Editor

Creativity plays hide and seek We need creativity every week, all of us, whatever our work for God. We need it for home groups, Sunday school, youth, sermons, and more. But where do you get it? Does it depend on bright ideas or hard work? How do you ‘push the right button’?

Take a glance at the conflicting advice. Churchill said, “Shut yourself up in a study and work hard.” Mark Twain smothered his fried eggs in pepper to sharpen his faculties! Apparently Dr Johnson needed a purring cat, orange peel and plenty of tea. A novelist pulled the blinds at midday. A poet kept apples rotting in his desk.

Why all these odd measures?

It’s unpredictable.

Shakespeare knew it too. In The Merchant of Venice he wrote: “Tell me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart or in the head? How begot, how nourished? Reply, reply.”

Most artists, whether or not they credit a Creator who gives creativity, know that creativity is not always there when they want it. Have you felt that half hope, half fear that you need something fresh and you don’t know where it will come from?

Songwriter Clara Scott penned the beginning of an answer in

her hymn ‘Open my eyes that I may see’: Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready my God, Thy will to see, Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!

In a regular column this year we will explore creativity. How do we get it? How do we use it? How do we receive it from the Holy Spirit?

And, yes, it’s Spirit-given. “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel... and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze...to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts” (Exodus 35:30-33 NIV).

Join me in finding this resource.

Dr Beulah Wood President of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand and the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society

v.135 no.1 † whitu 07

justice Participating in God’s mission

During World War II, the New Zealand Government appropriated land in Te Kōpua, Raglan, to build an aerodrome. When no longer required for military purposes, a large block was later converted into a public golf course.1 Jordyn Rapana writes about her tupuna wahine Tuaiwa (Eva) Rickard, whose Christian faith informed her 1970s fight to have the land returned to its Māori owners.

C

an you hear the voices? Chaotic and contrasting. Busy. Aggressive. In total juxtaposition with the blissful February summer sun shining over a glistening green golf course. And there, by the ninth hole, you can see her. She, alongside many others, occupies the whenua like she ‘knows’ there, because she has grown there. Her story is indented in the grooves that line her countenance, her brows furrowed in deep-seated fervour for justice. A worthy fight.

Her heart beating in time with the whenua, she plants her feet to claim back a birthright, an earth right. A perplexing

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paradox, she charges us forward by standing completely still. There on the lush golf course—a perfect fantasy of everything it was never meant to be—she remains, disrupting the daydream, seemingly with very few but, in actuality, with the bones of her predecessors and generations of whakapapa. A prophetic anticipation of where her own bones would eventually find rest.

And in a bewildering moment, in the midst of the familiar jingles of protest, she, a justice warrior, comes into contact with the recognised faces of ‘justice’ keepers. The juncture that bleeds beyond the confinements of a 40-year-old picture: the defining moment, televised nationally, of

KevinCarden/lightstock.com

Baptist / C U L T U R E

It was about being courageous in the overwhelming culture of dominance. her arrest. Eva Rickard is dragged from the premises, hands in cuffs, on an account of trespassing.

Activism It’s almost humorous: arrested for trespassing on the land that rightfully belongs to her hapū. Rickard’s radical activism takes place on the land that she is most familiar with. Her fight is reflective of the defining feature of Tainui Āwhiro hapū (sub‑tribe), described as “ngunguru te pō, ngunguru te āo”, which talks of the ongoing rumbling, the unsettledness through the night and the day.

Rickard emerges from this context of longing and groaning and restlessness. Her passion is reflective of the unrelenting waves of the moana (sea), Whāingaroa: a consistent strength and force of movement.

Her steadfastness is reflective of the maunga (mountain), Karioi, said to resemble a woman sleeping peacefully on her side. Rickard found peace in the presence of a government that wanted to steal from her, and the church that would not stand with her.

Faith Saved at a Billy Graham crusade, Rickard came to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ that was genuine, powerful and transformative good news to her. She encountered a people-loving, justice-yearning Jesus, and gave her entire life to what she believed to be God’s mission for our nation. It was about being courageous in the overwhelming culture of dominance. It was about restoring and enhancing the mana of her people. This helped her to wrestle her way through her faith

and Scripture that spoke of a justice for the oppressed that she was not witnessing in the faith communities surrounding her.

She could not shake the conviction that (in her own words), “If Christ came to Raglan he would see two classes of people—the rich and the powerful in the town and the disinherited Māori.

He knows what it is to suffer, to be despised and rejected and pushed aside by the powerful and the rich.

This is the side where I believe Jesus would stand—with those of us who are struggling to build community strength among a dispersed, disadvantaged people.”2 Her journey was fraught with an absolute onslaught of opposition, not only from governmental powers but from her own community. They wanted so badly to shut her mouth. She was this Māori woman with a revelation of a truly bicultural relationship and who was taking responsibility to hold our Treaty partners accountable, at every cost. It cost her an entire lifetime, for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the great-great-greatgrandchildren she would never meet, for the sake of women and for the sake of the bicultural journey. It caused discomfort for those in power who did not want to be held accountable for their dishonesty.

Mandate Forty years on from her iconic arrest, we have God’s grace in the form of hindsight. I realise that Rickard was just living out the mandate that God had given all throughout his Word: his call for justice; his call to those who are marginalised; and his honour and integrity in covenantal relationship despite everything it cost him—how he endured rejection and oppression from those in power and by his own people for the joy set before him.

Rickard served her days as a responsible Treaty partner. She provided strong leadership and resourced Māori leadership. She had the confronting conversations when

needed and did not let fear dictate the lengths she would go to, to ensure justice. It is a journey that comes at a cost of comfort and power.

Rickard’s story serves as a legacy to us, her whānau in Christ. We have amazing opportunities every day to uphold that legacy—unlearning and re-learning, and taking our partnership responsibilities seriously. At the core of all the affirmations of Rickard’s leadership, she—a mum, a wife, a volunteer at the local Plunket, an elder at a local church—was simply one who heard God’s calling and ran with it into eternity.

How much more, then, could we participate in God’s mission for our local contexts and our nation? How much more could we operate as Treaty partners? This fundamental and covenantal relationship is God’s gift to our nation that comes with responsibilities for both parties, to become strong hosts to every other nation that finds a place of belonging in Aotearoa.

Story: Jordyn Rapana Jordyn is a recent graduate of Carey Baptist College, graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Theology.

Based in Pukekohe, she serves in the area of worship in her local context of Franklin Baptist Church, as well as the wider denomination. Her love for stories and storytelling influences her keen learning, and then sharing, of the stories that live in our own land, histories and families.

1. “Eva Rickard,” Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Rickard.

2. “IV Responding to our own context,” Christian World Service. cws. org.nz/About-Us/ethos-4.asp.

v.135 no.1 † iwa 09

Baptist / Y O U N G A D U L T S

FAITH FEELINGS Believing the never-changing God

We’ve probably all heard the advice to “follow your heart”. Whilst this advice is well‑intentioned, Matthew Thornton explains why he doesn’t think it is the way we should be living as Christians.

IT

seems apparent to me as if the world we live in encourages us to be led by emotion and feelings. As Christians, we don’t follow our hearts, we follow Jesus. What this means is that our lives are directed

by God’s truth and not by our feelings, which are prone to wandering and fluctuation. It means that each emotion we feel is evaluated in light of his Word.

Concerning self-worth How comforting to know that our self-worth and self‑esteem are beyond our present feelings about ourselves. We aren’t defined by how we feel about ourselves; rather, we are defined by who Jesus says we are.

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What I’ve come to realise is that, sometimes, the greatest enemy to God’s truth is our own feelings.

There are often times when our feelings align with God’s truth. However, there are also times when they don’t. It is then that we need to remind ourselves of his truth and choose to believe, through faith, what he says about us,

AS CHRISTIANS, WE DON’T FOLLOW OUR HEARTS, WE FOLLOW JESUS.

Forgiven Photography/lightstock.com

OVER

instead of what our feelings may convince us.

When we feel worthless, we remind ourselves that he says we are worthy (1 Corinthians 6:11).

When we feel hopeless, we remind ourselves of the hope he gives (1 Peter 1:3-5).

When we feel like a failure, we remind ourselves that he has already won (John 16:33).

Lauren Daigle captures this beautifully in the chorus of her song ‘You Say’:1 You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing You say I am strong when I think I am weak You say I am held when I am falling short When I don’t belong, oh You say that I am Yours And I believe (I), oh I believe (I) What You say of me (I) I believe.

Or, as spoken word artist Joseph Solomon puts it: “faith over feelings”.

God in the silence How comforting to know also that our relationship with God is more than our feelings of connectedness with him.

There are times when I feel ‘on fire for Jesus’ but there are also times that I feel distant from him.

Following God in seasons of spiritual barrenness or ‘dryness’ can be the toughest. They are tough because it feels as if we have fallen out of favour with God. But, communion with God is more than just the words he speaks to us.

God can move in the silence too. For if

words can communicate meaning, so can the lack of them. It is in these times of silence that we need to rely on faith, not feelings, believing that the never‑changing God hasn’t abandoned us.

There seems to be profound power in periods of silence throughout the Bible. It takes 38 chapters in Job before God speaks. The Psalms often cry out that God is silent. And let’s not forget the silence of Easter Saturday where Jesus lay dead for a whole day.

But you see, if we seek God and continue to obey his commandments, his Spirit will never leave us (John 14:15‑17). So, if we are doing these things yet the Spirit still seems to remain silent, well then, we need to have faith that God is still working in that.

Periods of silence can prompt us into rest and reflection and can sometimes allow us to grieve and lament. I haven’t figured out exactly why we experience these seasons, but I suppose a large part of it has got to do with the fact that we aren’t home yet. We are still wandering in a foreign land, waiting to return home.

What is important is that during these times we continue to pursue God and continue to seek him.

Knowing that I have nothing to fear in this time, and that my relationship with God is more than these feelings of connectedness, gives me strength to persevere, a willingness to be obedient, and patience to endure it until I hear his gentle and tender whisper once again.

continue to seek him. Let us get to know his truth deeply so that it can lead us through life and keep us steady.

“Faith over feelings.”

I thank God I thank God for his truth that allows us to live a life by faith. I thank God that I am more than the sum of my emotions and feelings—both regarding my self-esteem and my relationship with him.

I thank God that who he says I am is what matters and I thank God that he can still work in periods of silence.

It is my encouragement that we continue to seek his word and

2. Why do you think our feelings may fail us in making wise choices?

Kirstyn J. Paynter/kjpaynter.com

Our relationship with God is more than our feelings of connectedness with him.

Story: Matthew Thornton Matthew attends Windsor Park Baptist Church. He is currently studying at the University of Auckland. He finds that writing is one of the prime ways he connects with and grows closer to God. He loves seeing the way in which God has wired everyone uniquely and finds immense fulfilment in seeing others discover who God is to them.

He would love to hear from you matthewcthornton13@gmail.com.

This article was originally published by Christian Today christiantoday.co.nz and is used with permission.

1. Songwriters: Paul Mabury / Lauren Ashley Daigle / Jason Ingram.

You Say lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC.

Take outs...

1. How much of a part have your feelings played in your recent decisionmaking?

3. In periods of spiritual dryness do you tend to withdraw from God because you feel distant from him, or do you continue to pursue him, believing in faith that he has not abandoned you?

v.135 no.1 † tekau mā tahi 11

Building for the

future

Creating expectancy

Frank and Zoe Grant led a once dwindling congregation in small-town Eastern Bay of Plenty on a journey to become a church brimming with expectancy and vision. This is their story, as told to Linda Grigg.

IN

2009 Frank and Zoe Grant were approached about becoming pastors of Ōpōtiki Baptist Church. At the time, the church had around eight adults and was struggling. The couple knew it would be a challenge to pastor there, not least because they lived at Omaio, approximately 50km from Ōpōtiki.

Zoe says she was ready after a couple of months, but Frank took about six months to decide. He was comfortably enjoying fellowship at the local Māori Presbyterian church, with, in Zoe’s words, “golden oldies” like themselves.

But ultimately distance and age proved no barrier, and the couple accepted the call. Their sons, who own a construction company, built them a two-bedroom cottage in Omarumutu, closer to church. And the Grants knew from their 50-plus years of ministering experience through thick and thin that God is always faithful and would continue to “perfect us in his ministry”.

Zoe says an understanding pastorate and elders with patience and love were needed, which took some time to establish to where it is today.

“Prayer and intercession is the answer,” she says. “In my

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time alone with our Lord I cried to him for my people, weeping in my grief. ‘Where are we, Lord? Wherever we look holistically, we as the natives of Aotearoa are the bottom of the heap.’ In my groaning he gave me 1 Peter 2:9‑10. I know we are moving in a new way by his Holy Spirit to reach our people, beginning in our own Jerusalem, i.e. families with this covenant relationship with the Lord, even to the third and fourth generations (Isaiah 59:21).

“Now our Judea is our extended families—our hapū and iwi on our local marae. It is happening; our people want the truth as we know it (John 14:6)—not religious jargon and protocol. The committed younger generation has the means and vitality under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to fulfil the word of God.”

New vision Not long after he came to pastor the church in 2009, Frank had the vision for an extension to the church building that would seat about 200 more people. It was a daunting step of faith for a small church to make.

The planning and resource consent process started in early 2011, with drainage and other pre‑construction work

colincollect/lightstock.com

Baptist / L E A D E R S H I P

beginning in 2014. Four‑and‑a‑half years later the new building was completed. It was officially opened on 17 November 2018. David Moko, Kaihautu of Manatū Iriiri Māori, conducted the opening ceremony, at which Frank laid out the vision.

Various kaumātua and other dignitaries also spoke.

“Frank and Zoe Grant’s pastoral care and intercession is ministering to individuals and whānau who don’t know the Lord, and lovingly introducing them to God’s saving grace through faith in Jesus,” says David.

“They’ve taken a small congregation that was almost at the point of closing, and have grown it to where the church decided to build an extension that has the capacity to seat up to 280 people.

I liken their story to a reflection of 1 Peter—doing all that they believed God could do through them, God is now adding to the church. It is indeed a great story.”

Frank and Zoe have recently transitioned to focus specifically on ministry to communities along the Eastern Bay of Plenty coast towards Te Kaha and beyond. Accordingly, the commissioning of Colin Moore as the new pastor of Ōpōtiki Baptist Church took place on 27th January 2019.

“It is a new thing the Lord is saying to us as far as reaching our lost, oppressed, broken-down people,” says Zoe. “The God of this world is money, at the expense of the poor

WE ARE MOVING IN A N E W WAY B Y H I S H O LY SPIRIT TO REACH OUR PEOPLE.

Frank and Zoe Grant

who are legislated against. It is a new thing the Lord is doing and it is the truth, i.e. the person of Jesus. 2019 is a new beginning for many of us to reach our people.”

New hope Ōpōtiki Baptist Church’s vision is the Great Commission, believing for souls for the kingdom beginning with local families in Ōpōtiki District including Highway 35, and extending to the whole of the Bay of Plenty. But their mission extends nationally and even internationally, too. Late last year two of their church members went to Israel with Pacific Pearls, a national prophetic women’s Christian ministry they are involved with.

The new building has fostered a sense of anticipation within the church community. Colin Moore says there is hope, faith and excitement that Ōpōtiki Baptist will grow as a church, both spiritually and numerically.

“The building has drawn people to work together better, and people have had to step up into new positions and grow. A lot more unity has resulted.

There is a new sense of expectancy.

God has shown his faithfulness to his people,” says Colin.

“Pastor Frank and Zoe have been amazing in their energy levels and dedication to moving the church forward all the way along. Their desire is to leave the church in a position that ensures it will grow and prosper and

fulfil all that God has called us to in the years ahead.

“They are amazing role models.

They have modelled true selfless commitment, faith and passion all the way, despite great odds and obstacles in this small needy town and district.

Their unwavering love for the church and Christ is evident in all they do.

They are very well known in the Bay of Plenty, all the way up the east coast from Te Puke to Waihau Bay, and they are a true father and mother in the faith to many, whether churched or unchurched.

“Frank is an outstanding statesman for Christ and the gospel, in the church, on the marae and in the wider community. Zoe has an obvious zeal and is an exceptional leader of women. Both are much loved by us all. It is amazing what they have accomplished. They are a real inspiration to all of us and they hold the bar very high for their Lord Jesus.”

Story: Linda Grigg Linda is editor of the Baptist magazine.

v.135 no.1 † tekau mā toru 13

Baptist / N E I G H B O U R H O O D & J U S T I C E

PERSONAL

Understanding God’s concern for the poor

Dave Tims explains why he believes New Zealanders need to wake up to an economic system ingrained in our society, and why Jesus followers should be taking a stand for the common good.

M

um, dad and two babies are homeless. Welfare has paid for six weeks’ accommodation in a motel, costing $1300 per week. The media has frequently reported such cases. At first it was just news stories, until recently when it happened to a good friend and neighbour of mine.

What is going on in our country for situations like this to become more common? In a word: neo-liberalism.

What is neo-liberalism?

Neo-liberalism is an economic philosophy that favours free-market capitalism. It promotes individualism, profit, the privatisation of state-owned businesses, and foreign investment, with few government restraints. Neo-liberalism has framed New Zealand’s economy and politics since the late 1980s, but many do not yet understand its full impact.1 It plays a major negative role in all aspects of life in New Zealand. Take the growing gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, for example. New Zealand used to have

14 tekau mā whā † v.135 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

Tom Rumble/unsplash.com

MAKING POVERT Y

Are we gaining our own security and wealth at the cost of the poor? a three‑class system, but experts say we now have five classes: the super-rich, the rich, the struggling class, the working poor and the beneficiary poor.2 In 2018 Oxfam announced that New Zealand’s richest one per cent owned 28% of the wealth created in 2017.

At the other end of the scale, the poorest 30% of the population received barely one per cent.3 The homeless living in motels or cars in those media reports we read are no longer just beneficiaries; they are also the working poor.

Walz’s story The effect of neo-liberalism is neatly illustrated by what happened to a young man in my South Auckland neighbourhood.4 When we moved into the area, Randwick Park had a reputation for violent crime. The run-down skatepark, which sat at the heart of the subdivision, was a meeting place for gangs and drug dealers.

Walz was unemployed at the time. He spent his time skating, drinking, smoking drugs and fighting. However I noticed the easy way in which Walz interacted with kids at the park and asked him to join a team to re-design the skatepark.

Long story short, the park redevelopment eventually also included a purpose-built community and sporting centre, as well as rugby fields and basketball and tennis courts.

Walz turned his life around and in 2013 was nominated Youth Worker of the Year. In 2017 Randwick Park received the New Zealand Community of the Year award in recognition of its transformation. It was not just because of the new amenities but for the way in which the residents, along with a handful of core entities, came together, thus creating a new sense of community pride and cohesion.5 This all sounds good, but there were some unintended consequences of this community development. Suddenly I noticed there was a proliferation of tradesmen’s vehicles in Randwick Park. Landlords and developers had cottoned on to what was happening and were buying up houses cheaply, renovating them, and then selling them for tens of thousands of dollars profit, or ratcheting up the rent to take advantage of the new desirability of the subdivision.

This gentrification had disastrous consequences for residents like Walz. His rent climbed $100 a week and he could no longer afford to live in the community in which he had invested himself. He moved out of town to a house he could afford. He was not alone; a lot of our neighbourhood ‘nannies’ also moved south or to Northland where accommodation was cheaper.

Time to re-think?

I personally think neo-liberalism is destructive to say the least, and that we Christians are fairly quiet about its negative impacts. Maybe that’s because it is so ingrained in everything society does; it has just become how we do life.

Perhaps we need to delve a bit deeper into the effects of neo-liberalism and our response to it. As Peter Block et al say, “we have to look how our core economic beliefs have produced a culture that makes poverty, violence, ill health, and fragile economic systems seem inevitable.”6 And we need to ask ourselves “how money may serve us, rather then we serve money.”7 In the light of Walz’s story, let’s take the issue of housing as an example. I believe Christians need to think about what our response to the housing crisis is from a justice perspective. As Jesus followers, should we have housing investments and be making money from the housing crisis?

Are we gaining our own security and wealth at the cost of the poor?

If so, then it isn’t what God intended for us. Throughout Scripture he taught an alternative narrative that emphasises neighbourliness and the common good.8 In the Old Testament, God commanded the observance of the Years of Jubilee and Years of Release (Leviticus 25 and 27), which was a structure to prevent the rise of a permanently poor class of people in society.

God’s wish is that there should be enough for everyone.

He outlined how we could live together for the common good of all. In 2 Corinthians 8:15, Paul observes that, “the one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” This passage reveals God’s intention for no one to be poor. It's time that we demand a change, or that we find a way to live the change we want to see in the world.

What can we do?

It is important that we understand God’s concern for the poor. I think it’s even more significant that we make poverty personal and find places where we can share our resources for the sake of the gospel and others.9 This is where the generosity DNA of the church can play a major part in the transformation of our country. Imagine if we worked collectively and pooled our resources to work towards a fair and just society. Imagine combining our ideas and skills to make money for the purpose of the kingdom, providing housing and employment, and empowering our neighbours to access the resources needed to live well.

And what say we did this without the government contracts that come with so many hidden agendas.

Sharing resources could be as basic as inviting individuals and families to live in our spare rooms, or as complicated as combining equity to buy houses to create co-housing communities, so that life and justice can be shared together.

v.135 no.1 † tekau mā rima 15

Baptist / N E I G H B O U R H O O D & J U S T I C E

Imagine if every Christian filled every spare room with homeless people.

The issue of homelessness in New Zealand would be significantly reduced!

Our church history is full of stories of major social transformation. Why couldn’t today be the start of another great story—the transformation of our economic system from profit and individualism, to the common good and well-being of all?

As we embark on this journey, we risk feeling uncomfortable and challenged, and experiencing loss, like the loss of privacy. Living counter-culturally is hard, and sharing resources is never easy. We may suffer from mistakes and misunderstandings along the way. But we also will gain friendship and the joy of seeing those we love, and those on the margins, find life and the resources to live well. It’s in this place that we find love, for as we love others, we also find a new love for ourselves. As Henri Nouwen has said, “We have to trust that the risk of loving is always worth taking.”10

the documentary Who Owns New Zealand Now? which looks at how neo-liberalism has contributed to New Zealand’s current housing crisis and which discusses options for creating affordable housing: https:// youtu.be/HzSAmOQuyjU. 2. Ibid.

3. “Oxfam report - Huge wealth gap in New Zealand where richest 1% own 28% of wealth,” NZ Herald, https://bit.ly/2Eyk6tq.

4. “Recovering drug addict changes a ‘hood’ into a ‘neighbourhood’,” TVNZ, https://bit.ly/2uZ2hUR 5. “Randwick Park named NZ’s Community of the Year,” Emily Ford: Stuff, www.stuff.co.nz/ auckland/89794362/randwick-parknamed-nzs-community-of-the-year.

Story: Dave Tims Dave is the Director of Urban Neighbours of Hope NZ, an international mission order (unoh.co.nz and unoh.org).

UNOH workers immerse themselves in the lives of neighbourhoods facing urban poverty, joining the risen Jesus to seek transformation from the bottom up. In New Zealand, UNOH workers live and serve as small, responsive neighbourhood-based teams in Randwick Park (Manurewa) and Arakura (Wainuiomata).

6. Peter Block, Walter Brueggemann and John McKnight, An Other Kingdom (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2016), X111.

7. Ibid, 29.

8. Ibid, and also Walter Bruegggemann, God, Neighbour, Empire: The Excess of Divine Fidelity and the Command of Common Good (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016).

9. Ash Barker, Make Poverty Personal (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2009), 145-149.

1. I recommend a great 50-minute documentary called Mind the Gap that explains what neo-liberalism is and how it’s a major influence in all aspects of our lives: https://youtu. be/__2EdGFdgTA. I also recommend

10. “Love and the Pain of Leaving,” Henri Nouwen: Henri Nouwen Society, www.henrinouwen.org/meditation/ love-pain-leaving.

Considered becoming an

OAC Community Chaplain?

OAC Community Chaplains are: • Mature in faith and wisdom.

• Sensitive to people of other faiths, and to people in crisis.

• Able to communicate the gospel clearly and simply in a non-aggressive way.

• Respected by their church and their community.

• Recommended by their church leaders.

• Voluntary.

The process: 1. An application form (available from communitychaplains@oac.org.nz).

2. A referee’s form filled in by a church leader.

3. A police check.

4. Attendance at a training day.

Training Days in 2019: Whangarei ..............6 April Canterbury..............13 April Auckland South......4 May Bay of Plenty ...........8 June Hawkes Bay ............22 June

Otago .............................. 6 July Manawatu ....................... 27 July Auckland Northshore...... 17 August Nelson .............................. 31 August Taranaki ............................ 28 September

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OAC Community Chaplains is a partnership between OAC Ministries and local churches to sensitively take Christ into the community by training and releasing suitable people to be ‘Community Chaplains’.

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Our stories Gathering brings together cultures Upsurge Aotearoa couldn’t have been planned. What began as a call from a pastor in Argentina, turned into a three-day hui that saw a mix of cultures unite together in Auckland.

Hills Church, also known as Hillsborough Baptist Church, had developed a relationship with Pastor German Palermo, from Argentina, after he first visited the church in 2014.

There has been a significant move of God in Argentina and, as part of this, a call has been put out for teams to go out and release this into the nations. Pastor Palermo and his team—made up from Christians from Chile, Brazil and Argentina—felt a strong call to Oceania, starting in Auckland. Pastor Palermo’s message for New Zealand was one of challenge—to die to our ways and step out into God’s call for the nation.

“We felt God calling us to steward this opportunity,” Hills Church Senior Pastor Glenn Edmonds says. “We didn’t know what to expect so we just booked out some time and began praying.”

A gathering was organised, with the name ‘Upsurge Aotearoa’ coming out of a prophetic image of a large wave of the Holy Spirit sweeping over the nation.

The event, held from 14th to 17th November 2018, attracted people from across New Zealand. Many of them hadn’t heard of Hills Church before but felt the call to be there.

Hills Church pastors Judi and Glenn Edmonds with German Palermo from Argentina (centre).

It kicked off with 24/7 prayer and fasting, before moving into an ‘equipping school’, with teaching focused on equipping disciples for kingdom mission.

The school was a powerful time with people of all cultures coming together to worship and to be challenged by teaching. This was followed by an outreach around Auckland.

A significant moment took place on the Friday night when a spontaneous call for reconciliation between Pākehā and Māori took place. As one attendee commented, “During praise and worship, I felt the outpouring of Te Wairua Tapu [the Holy Spirit] cover every soul in that auditorium... All I remember was two cultures, Māori and Tauiwi, embracing each other, with a hongi, tears and words of forgiveness towards each culture.”

Story: Elesha Gordon

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Baptist / O U R S T O R I E S

‘A Night in Bethlehem’ On Sunday 23rd December, Oxford Baptist Church transformed their auditorium and hall into a Nativity-themed bustling ‘night market’ that drew around 500 people.

Visitors received a list of activity stations, which had costumed actors representing various Nativity characters. During each short narration, people listened for clues to questions on their activity sheet. After completing these, they could go to a ‘redemption station’ where young children received Bible story books and sweets.

Optional stations involved activities in a pottery and carpenter’s tent, identifying spices at a spice market, receiving a fruit kebab at the fruit stall, and sampling Jewish cakes at the bakery. Jewish dancing, balloon animals, face painting and a photo booth completed the festive atmosphere. Prayers of blessing were offered at the prayer tent; most accepted and were deeply thankful.

Oxford Baptist’s Children’s Pastor, Tamar Hylands, pays tribute to Hosanna Baptist, Porirua, who supplied helpful scripts and ideas. She says theming it as a night market, as if walking the streets in Bethlehem, was God‑inspired.

“Our Senior Pastor, Greg Morris, wanted to do something for our community at Christmas.

Although I spearheaded it, it was a combined effort and the congregation got on board with the vision. It created such a buzz in our church and we can see that the Holy Spirit was over everything we did.

“This was not just about putting on entertainment for our community. Everyone who had a narrated part was really sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Sadly, a lot of people won’t come to church on a Sunday morning.

So we asked the Lord, how can we celebrate Christmas this year with the non‑churched of our community, who need to hear your Word and experience your love? How can we frame this so that it is non‑threatening, fun, about family and community, and have the whole morning solely focused on our Lord Jesus?

I think we ticked all the boxes to that!”

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Workshops on fear Living with an abnormal amount of fear can be extremely debilitating.

It disables people’s emotions and will, leaving them unable to make the choices and decisions they would make if they were free from fear. Their mindset and perspective on life is vastly different to someone without fear, almost as if they were looking through completely different lenses at the exact same thing at the same time.

Janene Forlong is offering workshops on the topic of overcoming fear. A former worship director at Hamilton Central Baptist Church, Janene had her own personal struggle with fear over many years. In 2016 she published

a self-help book Where Fear Rules, and a complementary leader’s guide, about her journey to freedom. From her own experience and in talking to others, Janene says she knows many Christians are enslaved to fear despite being the very ones that should be free.

“I knew I was fearful, but I was unaware of how detrimental it was to me,” says Janene. “After many years I became co-dependent on the feeling of fear and began to justify my behaviour to keep things the same.

“Fear is very common, and most people do not realise they are captive. Usually fear enters

and takes up residence without us knowing. The homes we grew up in may have been a place where fear ruled, and we subconsciously imitated the behaviours set by our family. We then carry these familiar traits into our adult lives.

Or we may have been impacted by traumatic life experiences and innocently allowed fear to dictate how things will be from that moment on.”

If you are interested in booking a workshop for your church or community group, see the advert below.

You can read a review of Janene’s book on our website baptistmag.org.nz/reviews.

Where Fear Rules was written and published by Janene Forlong in 2016.

In this book, we find out what fear looks like when it is ruling and how we got into this state in the first place. We discover how fear can grow into something much bigger than we expected and what options we have: to stick with fear or fight for freedom.

It also includes a toolbox full of eviction strategies on how to get free, stay free and live free.

Janene Forlong Speaker, Workshop Facilitator To purchase the book Where Fear Rules or book a workshop... ecclesia.nz/shop +64 27 308 2915 janene@ecclesia.nz ecclesia.nz

Baptist / O U R S T O R I E S

Transformation through unity President Harry S Truman is often attributed as saying, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” In the church we might alter that to say, “It is amazing what we will achieve when we only care that God gets the glory.”

In late November 2018, I had the immense privilege of travelling to Washington, DC, for the 100 Cities Summit at the National Museum of the Bible. I joined with 400 leaders from 125 cities across the globe to share stories of what God is doing to transform cities with the power of the gospel through the unity of the church.

Movement.org, which organised the summit, was founded on the back of an incredible 21-year period in Manhattan, New York, in which evangelical Christianity grew by 300%. Additionally, between 1995 and 2000, the murder rate in New York dropped by 70%.1 These changes came as church leaders earnestly sought to pray and work together for the transformation of their city.

My clear impression from the Washington summit is that God is in the process of answering the prayers of his son in John 17, uniting his church to respond to the great needs of our cities and towns with the lifechanging power of the gospel.

In May last year I took on the leadership of City by City, an organisation dedicated to fostering interdenominational church unity in every city, town and region of New Zealand.

Part of my role will be to host New Zealand’s first Movement Day on 14th and 15th May this year in Lower Hutt. This will be a gathering of leaders from around the nation to share our own stories of how God is moving in our local contexts. For more information on how to be involved in Movement Day, please email nigel@citybycity.co.nz.

Story: Nigel Irwin 1. Movement Day, Movement Day History 2010 – 2018 (16 May 2018) vimeo.com/270125960.

20 rua tekau † v.135 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

In November 2018 Whangarei Central Baptist Church’s street-facing exterior wall had a make-over. The new paintwork is eye-catching and colourful, which fits with the church’s desire to be a place that draws in children and teens and makes them feel welcome.

A church member’s relative created the striking design, which looks similar to sign language symbols spelling out the word ‘Love’, and a couple from the church painted it.

Luisa leaves kindy after 23 years’ service

An unmissable light “Some people have come in off the street to tell us that they think one of the other walls should be yellow too,” says Hilary Beath, WCBC’s Resource Manager. “There has been a lot of positive support. The barista at the supermarket across the road where Russell Watts, our Senior Pastor, gets his coffee, commented to him that there must be a new young pastor at the church. Russell didn't know how to reply!”

The church is currently working on council approval and

Luisa Mackenzie has often thought how amazing it is that God chose an unschooled nine-year-old girl from an isolated island in Papua New Guinea to eventually become the Supervisor of Milford Baptist Kindergarten (MBK).

It was Luisa’s uncle, captain of the Methodist Mission’s transport boat, who advocated for her to start at the mission school at age 10. Luisa boarded during the week, going home at weekends to visit family and to collect her food for the next week.

After finishing high school, Luisa trained as a primary school teacher and then, in Fiji, as a home economics teacher. When teaching at her old high school she met David, a volunteer bookkeeper, and they were married in 1974. They studied at Laidlaw Bible College then returned to the Mission where David became manager of the business arm of what is now the United Church of PNG and the Solomon Islands.

In 1986 the family moved to New Zealand and in 1996 Joy House suggested Luisa relieve at MBK. Luisa was fascinated by what she saw as she had never encountered a ‘play to learn’ type of preschool before.

funding for extending the downstairs part of their building to include a centre with a café. This will provide a fun and healthy alternative to local fast food outlets for families and for teenagers after school. The church offices will then move upstairs.

“We have gone from being an invisible church in camouflage paint to a bright light that no one can miss. We pray that people find the light of Jesus amongst us,” says Hilary.

She started as a reliever but never left!

In the early 2000s, taking a step of faith and courage, Luisa began studying for her B.Ed. (ECE) degree. In 2005 she graduated and followed God’s call to become our Supervisor. She retired from this position at the end of 2018.

In her farewell report at the kindergarten’s AGM, addressing MBK’s Board, Milford Baptist Church, and the kindergarten staff and families, Luisa said, “I pray you will go from strength to strength. I leave after 23 years of service with gratefulness and I thank God for allowing me to be part of this place for all these years.

“My journey has been one of growth, development and proof of God’s faithfulness everywhere I look and turn.

My perspective of me being here is one of wonder and amazement that God would use me in some little way to influence hopefully for better, to create an environment worthy of the children and families, and to be part of the team of staff who support the values we hold so dearly in this place. Kia kaha in the Lord.”

Story: Sue McIntosh

v.135 no.1 † rua tekau mā tahi 21

Baptist / O U R S T O R I E S

NZ Baptist women to be represented at UN Conference Each year the United Nations hosts a Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The Baptist World Alliance is eligible to send delegates to the conference.

It invited Baptist Women New Zealand (BWNZ) to send a representative this year.

Chris Beales-White, an emerging leader in the New Zealand Baptist movement, has been selected. She will be part of an international Baptist team at the 63rd CSW, to be held in New York on 11th to 22nd March 2019.

“I am passionate about supporting and empowering women,” says Chris. “This will be an exciting opportunity for a Baptist leader to engage with new ideas and research on a global stage. BWNZ wants to bring current thinking around gender equality, accessibility and social development to our movement and communities.

This is a key moment to do this.”

Donations to help fund Chris’s travel and accommodation costs can be made via a Givealittle page givealittle.co.nz/cause/send-chris-to-the-united-nations.

Memoir encourages forgiveness Publishing her memoir is the climax of an 18-year writing and research journey for Village Baptist Church attendee Ingrid (Addy) Coles.

Titled Two Slices of Bread, the book traces her and her family’s harrowing time imprisoned by the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, during World War II. Her father died in prison camp, aged just 43.

At the age of 16, Ingrid migrated to New Zealand, alone, to train as a nurse.

Apart from long letters to family and friends back home in the Netherlands, she says she knew little about writing at the time. Her journey to becoming an author began in 1999 when she started writing short stories in longhand.

“My friend Joy Graham gradually taught me to master the computer.

In the meantime, I joined NZ Christian Writers, where competition judge and author Bartha Hill taught me further writing skills. Bartha, having also grown up in the Netherlands, helped me overcome the tendency to mix Dutch and English language structure in the same sentences.”

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In 2004 Ingrid completed a homestudy freelance writing course. This was followed in 2007 with a family history course. Both were through NZ Christian Writers. She then finally began her family’s story.

Writing and perfecting the book took 11 years. Despite the long slog, Ingrid was motivated by the thought of her grandchildren not knowing what her family had endured during the war years. She wanted them to understand how those experiences had impacted Ingrid, her mother and her three siblings.

“Most of all, I’d like people to know the value of true forgiveness. Even when in our own strength we are unable to forgive, by humbly asking God for help, he will enable us. Bitterness leads to hate, and hate leads to more wars and heartache. Peace is obtainable through self-control and true forgiveness.”

Ingrid says writing a sequel to Two Slices of Bread has crossed her mind, but first she plans to spend quality time with her husband and family.

Read a review of Ingrid’s book on our website baptistmag.org.nz/reviews.

Carey Baptist College has high quality, research-active lecturers, many of whom have significant practical ministry experience. However, the Baptist family of churches, who have been resourcing the college for more than 90 years, usually have access to this teaching only via people who train through Carey. This means less than half a per cent of New Zealand Baptists get to hear these teachers on a regular basis.1 “I wondered if we could make it easy for everyone in the Baptist family to get access to Carey’s excellent teaching.

That thought birthed our new Focus webinar series,” says Carey’s Director of Lifelong Learning, Dr Mike Crudge.

“Web seminars or ‘webinars’ have been around for more than two decades and approximately 90% of New Zealanders are active internet users. So, in terms of accessibility, the Focus webinars are a huge development,” says Mike.

On the first Wednesday of the month (March-October, 7.30pm) a new topic will be brought into focus from the areas of Culture, Old Testament, Pastoral Care, New Testament, Youth, Mission, History, and Theology.

Each webinar will be an hour long, containing 40 minutes of content, with live questions and answers. These will be recorded, with ongoing access available online. A short reading list

will be included with each webinar.

The cost is $25 per webinar (individual or a group), or people can subscribe to them all for $150 (25% discount: get two free webinars).

“You can watch on your own or create a home group for the eightmonth series. I suggest meeting fortnightly on Wednesday nights, with a discussion in-between the monthly webinars,” says Mike.

For a list of topics and lecturers, and to register, go to lifelonglearning.nz/focus.

1. There are various figures on how many Baptists there are in New Zealand. The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand has the figure of 54,300 from the 2013 Census.

Carey has about 400 students each year, about half being from Baptist churches. Therefore 0.36% of Baptists are being taught directly by Carey lecturers each year. https://teara.govt.nz/en/diversechristian-churches/page-1.

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Baptist / O U R S T O R I E S

Here is a list of the members of our Assembly Council, including those newly elected at Hui 2018.

Rob Stacey (Chair) Rob recently concluded as Senior Pastor at Westgate Baptist Church and has taken up a new role at Bethlehem Baptist Church. He has been a member of Assembly Council for the last five years and has participated in senior leadership teams for 15 years. Accordingly, he has an extensive knowledge of Baptist systems. His gifts include creating a cohesive environment for vision and mission to be achieved. Other gifts are leadership, pastoral care, administration and team dynamics.

Beulah Wood (President) Beulah Wood is the President of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand and the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society. She currently teaches and leads the Ethnic Ministry Training at Carey Baptist College, and is part of Baptist Women New Zealand (the former Baptist Women’s Board). She has served as a missionary in Nepal and as a writer and teacher in a theological college in India. Beulah brings to Assembly Council her gifts as a teacher, writer and leader.

David Allen (Vice-President) David served for many years in mission with Interserve in the Middle East.

In recent years, he has been an interim pastor at Baptist churches in Mt Albert, Titirangi, Glen Eden and Northcote. He is a gifted strategic thinker, a great people motivator, a deep thinker and a passionate servant. He is skilful in aiding people and churches through transition at a time when we as a movement are facing significant shifts in personnel.

Andrew Bollen (Mission Chair) Andrew has been a co-pastor at Wellington Central for the last seven‑and‑a‑half years, and previously at Karori and New Plymouth West Baptist Church.

As he is the current Chair of the Mission Board, he brings corporate memory, having served for 20 years. He also brings leadership and he has experience on other local trusts and school boards. His gifts include leadership, pastoral discernment, encouragement and willingness to think outside the box.

John Alpe John has experience as a youth pastor, assistant pastor and senior pastor.

He currently leads a church staff of six and approximately 12 trust staff.

He has led the Canterbury Association, and does consultancy work with churches. John has had five years’ experience on Assembly Council. His gifts include leadership, wisdom, discernment and strategic thinking. He is also an initiator of new things.

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Paul Askin Paul has many years’ experience in church leadership, wider Christian community leadership and secular work. He has been a pastor and a regional mission leader, and is an ecumenical leader in the church. Paul is an enthusiastic learner who brings accumulated wisdom, a love for people, abilities in leadership and communication, bicultural and multicultural knowledge, a love of Scripture and a desire to be informed about the changing world.

Blue Bradley Blue is a Carey Baptist College pastoral leadership graduate. He is a missional leader with 20 years’ experience in youth leadership. He was a young adult’s pastor at Windsor Park Baptist Church. He has been a missional church co‑planter and a director of Crave café for the past 11 years, the Director of Easter Camp for the last 10 years, and an Assembly Council member for the last four years. He is gifted in the area of communication, and strategic and futuristic thinking.

Helen Brereton Helen has been a member of Whangarei Central Baptist Church since 2000.

She graduated from Carey Baptist College’s pastoral leadership programme in 2017. She is currently interim pastor at Dargaville Baptist Community Church and has been part of the Northern Baptist Association Board since 2016.

Helen is keen that the dynamics of rural and small churches, and the challenges facing their leaders, are heard at Assembly Council. She values discernment and transparency, is a strategic and creative thinker, and has a passion for Baptist ecclesiology.

Chris Chamberlain Chris has 11 years’ experience in a small provincial church (Greymouth) and 11 years’ experience in a central city church (Oxford Terrace). He has practical knowledge in disaster recovery, building and finance, and mission issues. Chris is a people person and is gifted in strategy, pastoral care and humour. He has interest in Baptist strengths and is passionate for renewal of our Baptist identity.

Chris loves the church, our Baptist distinctives, networking and finding God’s way forward, especially when it seems impossible.

Luke Kaa-Morgan Luke has had extensive experience in pastoral leadership, particularly with coordination of Sunday services in his local church, Franklin Baptist. He is extremely missional. His gifts include communication, creativity, leadership and teamwork. Luke will be an advocate for the Māori voice, strengthening the bicultural journey, and encouraging the denomination to continue exploring the strategies that might address the decline of church attendance.

Raewyn Moodie Raewyn concluded at Westgate Baptist Church December 2017, after 29 years holding various roles including home group leader, youth pastor, children’s pastor, and family and community pastor. She and her family now fellowship at Kumeu. Raewyn has been in her current role as a children and family ministry coach for the Northern Baptist Association for nine years. Having served on Assembly Council for seven years, Raewyn has a good knowledge of history and processes. Her gifts and strengths include vision, leadership, relationship building, communication, achiever, positivity, empathy and connectedness.

Assembly Council acts as the Assembly between annual Baptist Assemblies (Hui) and provides leadership for our Baptist movement.

It is responsible for establishing policies and practices consistent with the determinations of Baptist Assembly and the well‑being of the movement.

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Baptist / O U R S T O R I E S

>

meet…

Pete Olds Navy Chaplain

Pete Olds is a Baptist chaplain with the Royal New Zealand Navy.

This is his story.

What was your background prior to becoming a military chaplain?

I began my working career as a ships’ joiner at HMNZ Dockyard, in Devonport, in 1985. I left at the completion of my apprenticeship and worked as a cabinetmaker for a couple of high‑end furniture makers before leaving my trade to train for ministry at Carey Baptist College in 1994. After graduating at the end of 1996, I was called to Balmoral Baptist and started ministry there on 1st April 1997. I was there until mid‑2006 when I entered into the Navy and commenced my officer training.

What led you into chaplaincy?

I was lucky in my church experience in that I was part of a permission‑giving and diverse congregation. They were passionate about mission and serious about equipping people for ministry.

Being a sleeves-rolled-up kind of person, I was also naturally drawn to practical models of service and grounded expressions of faith.

One of my closest peers during my time at Carey was Mike Subritzky who, after a stint at Epuni Baptist, had gone on to become an Army Chaplain. Each year at Assembly, Mike would say to me, “You should become a military chaplain.”

That was the pattern for nine years until November 2005 when, in response to the standard dig from Mike, I felt suddenly that he was right. I have no doubt that this was one of those moments when

God clicked the pieces into place—both the internal and the external ones.

At the heart of the internal change was the realisation that I was not especially passionate about the organisational aspects of church. I love people and in chaplaincy I saw the opportunity to deal more immediately with individuals.

I was excited that dealing with the nuts and bolts of the organisation, in this case the Navy, was someone else’s responsibility.

What is your rank and what military training is required?

Rank is an interesting one for Navy chaplains in New Zealand, as opposed to Army or Air chaplains.

We don’t carry rank. We have a unique rank slide, a stylised cross superimposed with a fouled anchor, that is only worn by chaplains. This sets us apart from the usual structure of the military and helps to ensure that we are equally accessible to all serving personnel regardless of their place in the system. At its simplest we effectively assume the rank of the person we are engaging with—neither being junior or senior to them.

Theologically and practically I’m deeply committed to this model of doing things. It almost seems Baptist in its ‘flatness’. The service, too, holds it as precious; every Chief of Navy in my service career has commented that it is something they would die in a ditch to retain. In a highly stratified and hierarchical organisation, it’s amazing how powerful it is to model an alternative. I think it keeps us (the current five Regular Force and three Reserve chaplains) humble. I’m sure I’ve read something somewhere about people musing about who was the greatest... as I recall Jesus wasn’t overly positive about the topic!

The military takes training, preparedness and leadership incredibly seriously. Upon attestation (entrance into the military), chaplains are commissioned in the same way as all other officers. We then undertake the same training that all Naval Officers undertake upon entry. Training continues throughout your career in the military and the leadership training is second to none. I have been lucky enough to complete courses that I would have struggled to afford or have access to if I had not been in the military.

How has your chaplaincy work challenged and fulfilled you?

The environments in which you operate can be extreme— from the cold of the Southern Ocean to the heat of the tropics. You deploy into some difficult situations—from peacekeeping in Timor-Leste to humanitarian aid and disaster relief in the wake of tropical cyclones in the Pacific and earthquakes in New Zealand. You are exposed to both the best and the worst that people can do. You get to walk with them through their greatest highs and their deepest lows. In 12-plus years of chaplaincy I have conducted

almost 100 weddings, including three in one day, and have officiated at the funerals of still-born babies and 100‑year‑old war veterans. I have buried serving military personnel and repatriated the remains of those who have died while on operational service overseas.

People in the military are refreshingly honest. They speak to you openly about the most personal problems that they are facing. They come to a chaplain because they trust that we are a safe set of hands and that we genuinely care about them. We are non-judgemental, accessible and available. In an environment that is thoroughly secular we are, weirdly, afforded a degree of respect that we don’t often find in the church. We are privileged to be a part of people’s lives in a way that is immediate and uncluttered.

There is no ‘end‑state’ other than responding to the opportunity to love them as we’re asked to and able to.

What aspects of your work might surprise some people?

Chaplains are subject to the same health, fitness and security requirements as all military personnel. While we are, by international law, non-combatants, we are expected to know our way around the standard weapons of the New Zealand Defence Force for the purposes of ‘making them safe’ in the event that this is necessary. Across the three services of Army, Navy and Air Force, we are involved in the training of new recruits and junior officers and have active roles in delivering different courses and in leadership training. We dish out a lot of lollies—little pieces of morale wrapped in paper that are often the catalyst of unplanned and unexpected conversations and pastoral encounters.

What is most unique, though, is the location in which all our work plays out. It is not inside the church; it takes place in the workplaces and homes (often the same thing) of the men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force. That’s the amazing privilege of military chaplaincy. In New Zealand or overseas, on exercises or operations, on base or on a course, we are invited to participate in the mission and lives of the men and women who serve New Zealand.

What would you say to those who may be considering a chaplaincy role in the military?

Confirm it as a genuine call from God. Find a New Zealand Defence Force Chaplain to talk to; we may help talk you in or out of it! Work it through with your family and loved ones; it’s a whole family calling in that you can’t do it if you don’t have everyone on board. Prepare yourself physically and mentally because it’ll stretch you and test you in ways you don’t expect. Brush up on your ironing! Get your head around the theological implications of what it means to serve in the military—it’s an arm of the state and it exists to serve in a very particular and important way. You will need to be OK with that and to reconcile it somehow to the call and the mission of the gospel. 

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>

Baptist / O U R S T O R I E S

meet…

Monique Lee storyteller/photographer

Monique Lee and her family attend Manurewa Baptist Church. She is entering her third year of Pastoral Leadership training at Carey Baptist College and is working through a BA in Applied Theology. In addition to studying and being a wife and mother, she volunteers for a community project called Humans of South Auckland. This is her story.

Tell us about your volunteer work.

Humans of South Auckland (HOSA, hosa.co.nz) aims to develop hope and pride in the South Auckland community through telling the real stories of its everyday people. I love South Auckland; it’s been home to me since I was about four years old. There are so many amazing people and communities there.

I initially volunteered to help with story editing because the HOSA team was snowed under producing their book Real, Raw, and Relatable. Later, when HOSA asked for help with photography and stories, I signed up. It was a chance to share the good about our place, and to brag about the amazing things that are being done here. We get to be a part of something that injects pride into our place!

What is your role?

I’m a storyteller/photographer. I sit with our ‘human’—this is what we call our interviewees—and hear their story.

Each human gets asked the same set of three questions.

We find this is enough to open up conversation. Our aim during the interview is to find out who they are, not what they do or what they're known for. We want to see and hear their heart.

The hard part is that an hour of conversation needs to be condensed into a short couple of paragraphs for Facebook. When people read these stories, we want them to go, “Wow! I never knew that about that person. They are just like me!” This isn’t about heroes doing heroic things.

This is about everyday normal people who live in and love their communities.

What do you most enjoy about the role?

Listening. That sounds cliché, but the opportunity to be listened to has become rare in today’s busy and rushed

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culture. This role is unique to anything I’ve done before. We have no agenda, except to provide space for our humans to share. We are not listening just to offer our own ‘similar experience’. Neither are we listening to then offer advice.

This is pure listening. Honestly, at times it’s challenging learning to keep that space completely free of any agenda.

What have you learned through HOSA? Many people think their life is boring and of no interest to anyone else. Through HOSA I’ve found that often it’s in being listened to that people find their story. I love that moment when their eyes light up with something that has made them proud and they talk excitedly about it, or when eyes flood with the tears of some remembered pain. I’ve learned I can relate to people who come from different backgrounds to my own and no matter how different we may feel, there is always commonality to share.

How does it connect with your faith?

As a Christian, it can be difficult to listen to some of these stories and not attempt to jump in and ‘help’ the person.

This has meant that each interview is a level playing field between me and them. I’m not the person with the answers; I’m the person who believes they have massive value as they are and who wants to listen.

HOSA demonstrates that there are so many in our community who we Christians can learn from. There are so many who are out there giving their time and resources to others and they don’t know Jesus! Often I have finished an interview feeling like I just saw the heart of Jesus in that person and feeling challenged by that. 

Ryan Loughlin/lightstock.com

What’s on your mind?

A reflection Baptisms The first thing I look at when our statistics come out each year is our baptism figures. I don’t look at much else. I do this for two main reasons.

Firstly, we are called the Baptist Churches of New Zealand, so as a denomination we must value baptisms pretty highly. We are called what I would think we value.

Secondly, baptisms are where the ‘quality vs quantity’ debate intersects.

Evangelism (quantity argument) should see baptisms increase. It is the one public sacrament that tells us that someone is wholeheartedly willing to follow God. It is more than bottoms on seats; it is a stake in the ground for a new follower of Jesus.

Discipleship (quality argument) should also see baptisms increase.

As Baptists, we should be elevating it as part of the journey of discipleship.

The more people we disciple, the more baptisms we should have. Baptism is both a sign of church growth and of quality discipleship.

So then, I have a deep concern that our numbers each year have continued to drop. Statistics show only 680 people were baptised in Baptist churches across New Zealand in the 2017/18 year. Two associations increased from the previous year but all other regions had reasonably significant declines. Somehow this has to change, but how?

If this drop is a God thing then we can’t do much. But I am not convinced that God has changed his mind on baptisms. If he has, then we had better reword that guiding passage for many of us in Matthew 28:18-19. I’m not sure we are authorised to do that!

Maybe we need to talk about it more at all levels of our church/ denominational life. Is it something

we still value? Do we think it is an important part of evangelism and discipleship? I would like to think we wouldn’t have too much of a debate on that one. Surely the value of baptism has not changed for us?

I wonder if there are other really good things that have taken too much of our attention over the last while. As a result, baptism talk and activity have fallen by the wayside.

Evangelism, mission, discipleship, church growth, personal growth, social justice, transformation, church planting, creativity in mission, leadership, community, programmes, small groups, and other words that you can add to the list—surely the intersection and one of the significant signs of doing well in these is baptism?

Here are some things that may help if you want to increase your believer’s baptisms:

• Have your constitution reflect a high value of baptism.

I believe that Christ gave us a clear and concise way of ministry and the two sacraments of communion and baptism are part of it. There is probably a whole lot more that could be said, and probably will be said, but at the end of the day we need more baptisms.

There is a Māori whakataukī that is becoming one of my favourites. It says this: He manako te koura i kore ai (wishing for the crayfish won’t bring it).

Let’s first wish for baptisms. Then let’s add it to our conversations, pray for baptisms, and plan and strategise to see more. Let's aim for it and just get on and do it.

• Talk regularly about baptism when you talk evangelism and discipleship.

• Report regularly on baptisms, or the lack of them, to the church and to your governance board.

• Strategise towards baptisms when talking and dreaming with your governance board.

• Make baptisms fantastic times of celebration.

• Have your church name reflect your value of baptism.

• Regularly provide opportunities for people to talk about baptism.

• Preach/teach on baptism.

• Run baptism courses. If you do Alpha courses or other mission courses, add one on baptism.

• Identify people who could/should address baptism and talk to them.

Reflection: Peter Foster Peter Foster is the pastoral team leader at Whakatane Baptist Church. He got baptised at Glen Eden Baptist Church in 1984 after spending a year (too long) thinking about it. He had come to the Baptist church after spending his time in a Presbyterian church and observing all the significant faith milestones in that denomination. After thinking it through, Peter came to the conclusion that believer’s baptism was what was required of him. He has promoted that and ministry towards baptism since then.

This article is adapted from a longer version available on the magazine’s website baptistmag.org.nz/discipleship.

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Baptist / O U R S T O R I E S

In Memoriam

Sister Joan Milner: Truly able 22 April 1921 – 21 October 2018

Tooi James Raumati: Loyal, obedient, observant 17 November 1934 – 30 November 2018

Tooi (Jim) Raumati was the elder and pastor of Waiuku Baptist Church. He was an honourable man and a faithful and loyal servant of God. We called him ‘Papa Jim’.

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Joan arrived in Pukekohe in January of 1955, entering Baptist mission work among Māori in the north Waikato and Franklin areas as one of the early pioneers.

Joan faithfully served the Māori Department as a full-time worker in this area until her retirement in 1978.

She continued to live in Pukekohe, attending Franklin Baptist Church (formerly Pukekohe Baptist), until the Lord called her home in October of last year.

It was God’s word to Joan—“If God command, you shall be able”—that led her to fully commit to the challenges of cross-cultural mission and a life of dedicated service. She learnt enough te reo Māori to communicate with those she was called to serve. She visited homes and quickly captured the hearts of those she was called to.

They also enjoyed her fruit cake!

Joan began a Sunday School on the verandah of one of the homes she visited, which quickly grew. When the whānau moved away, it relocated to the Pukekohe Māori School. People came to the Lord, cottage meetings commenced, women’s groups were formed, youth clubs were launched and services were held on marae.

The impact on the community was great and the effective nature of the mission continues and is to be seen nationwide.

We honour and give thanks to God for the life and service of Sister Joan Milner—a great woman among us, whose legacy lives on in the work of Manatū Iriiri Māori and beyond.

Joan was truly ‘able’.

As his family, we would like to honour him in many ways. He was a hard worker, more than anyone else.

He was still working early mornings until his late seventies. Yet he never complained or talked negatively about anything. He planned things every day; that was his biggest mana.

He worked hard and gave generously to those who were in need. He was also a humble man. Although he called himself a shy man, he was sharp in his spirit and words when he spoke with his quiet voice. He was a good listener and a patient pastor and elder, who would sit at every Friday morning prayer meeting with the faithful few who came.

During the last years of his life, we saw a beautiful change in his personality. While he had been known as a strong man who would not express what was in his heart, he became a gentle and loving person. We knew that was the work of Holy Spirit in his heart.

There are so many beautiful

memories of him. We are going to miss him so much with his faithfulness to the church and the whānau.

We shared our deep concerns in our life and prayed for each other. His love for the church and the family always inspired people and encouraged them to overcome difficulties in life.

He taught us how to serve God humbly with honesty and commitment.

Through him, we learnt that there is no love without commitment as we follow our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God is welcoming Papa Jim with his loving arms open and saying to him, “You are my faithful son whom I love so much.” So we are glad that he can rest in eternal life. His legacy of mission to reach out to whānau and the community will be continued with our hearts and prayer.

This verse reminds us of his life: “‘I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit’” (John 12:24).

Obituary: Luke Kaa-Morgan

Obituary: The Raumati whānau

Directory > SENIOR PASTOR

100 Years Ago

Darfield Baptist Church is searching for you, our new Senior Pastor to love God, love us and love our community.

You are skilled at: • preaching and teaching; • providing leadership and vision: Gospel Perspective/lightstock.com

• equipping to evangelise; • pastoring and shepherding;

Passing notes Power of the Press—We felt it very strikingly lately.

We were on our January holiday… We were camped on a strange sand patch by the Pacific Sea when a long-delayed mail from England was thrust into our hands. Here were papers of October and November, detailing the last acts of the great world drama.

We could see those imperishable scenes. We listened to the moralising of the great Editors. We hearkened to the pulpit kings as they interpreted the religious significance of this yet wet page of history. The greatness of the Press was forcibly impressed on us. And the greatness of our own little paper, too. The Editor roused himself to vows and prayers concerning the 1919 issues of the “N.Z. Baptist.” He desires unutterably that all the power of the paper may be dedicated to our Lord’s service, and that every issue of it, whether read by busy townsfolk or lonely country folk, may come as a message, as an inspiration, and as an education.

He bespeaks the prayers of his readers for the new year’s task.

Baptist magazine, February 1919

• nurturing spiritual growth.

Your full-time role will be working as a senior partner with our elders, Youth Pastor and ministry leaders.

We are: • Christ-centred and biblically founded.

• Intergenerational and family‑focused.

• Here to make a difference, engaging with our community practically, socially and spiritually.

• Missional—God has placed each of us where we can minister to others both ‘here’ and ‘there’.

• A vibrant and dynamic church on God’s journey.

The Selwyn district is predominately rural, fast growing, economically strong, and offers a great lifestyle.

INTERESTED? PLEASE CONTACT: JOSEPHINE FEAVER, OUR SEARCH COMMITTEE SECRETARY AT amazinggrace009@gmail.com (All inquiries will be kept in confidence) APPLICATIONS CLOSE 4 MARCH 2019

v.135 no.1 † toru tekau mā tahi 31

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Directory FUNERAL SERVICES

PASTOR

DARGAVILLE BAPTIST COMMUNITY CHURCH ‘WE EXIST TO GLORIFY GOD AND GROW IN CHRIST, CARING FOR EACH OTHER AND THE COMMUNITY. WE WILL DO THIS PRAYERFULLY, HUMBLY AND GENEROUSLY’

LET US HELP YOU THROUGH...

Dignity, sensitivity, and respect are the hallmarks of H Morris Funeral Services and we are proud to be able to provide funeral services to suit your needs and financial circumstances.

Our staff are available to you twentyfour hours a day to help put in place funeral plans, provide advice, and take care of all of the details to make the service meaningful and appropriate.

DBCC is looking for a pastor who will partner with us in the outworking of our vision. We are a family orientated church of approximately 105-110 with about 65 attending on a Sunday morning and are actively engaged in the community. The pastor will join a dedicated leadership team who are committed to continuing to develop our church vision.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH FACILITATOR

Avonhead Baptist Church in Christchurch are looking to fill this 20 hour per week position.

FOR DETAILS ON THE ROLE AND JOB RESPONSIBILITIES EMAIL appointments@avonheadbaptist.org OR PHONE 03 348 6742 DURING OFFICE HOURS Applications close 20th February.

PAKURANGA BAPTIST CHURCH HISTORY

Enjoy the great lifestyle that comes with living in a rural community.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL corston@slingshot.co.nz APPLICATIONS CLOSE 15TH MARCH UNLESS APPOINTMENT IS MADE PRIOR

A book celebrating PBC’s first 50 years of history is expected to be available in May. It will be A4 size, 60 pages, approx. with coloured photographs. The estimated cost is $20 per copy.

31 OCEAN VIEW ROAD, NORTHCOTE 09 489 5737 office@hmorris.co.nz hmorris.co.nz

Applicants should be NZ residents who have, or are working towards, registration as pastors with the Baptist Union.

TO RESERVE A COPY PLEASE CONTACT PAKURANGA BAPTIST CHURCH office@pakbapt.org.nz

GAY & CHRISTIAN

PASTOR

PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR BAPTIST MAGAZINE

PONSONBY BAPTIST

Gay & Christian support & discussion group monthly meetings 027 279 4461 office@ponsonbybaptist.org.nz ponsonbybaptist.org.nz/gay-andchristian-information

Westgate Baptist Church, in north-west Auckland, is commencing a search for a new Pastor. We invite you to pray about whether that might be you. More information will be available in the next issue of the Baptist.

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We require volunteer photographers who can submit stock images for general use, and/or take commissioned photographs of people and events.

TO FIND OUT MORE EMAIL linda@baptistmag.org.nz WITH SOME SAMPLES OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY THAT SHOWS YOUR RANGE OR SPECIALIST INTEREST. Please note, we are not looking for scenic or nature photography.

Glo bal Mis si on

Photo of the month As Baptist Churches of New Zealand we are represented in overseas mission by a number of families who serve throughout the Asian region. Each person plays a vital role, including the children—who are able to befriend and support local children. Malachi and Mikayla, and Connor and Emilie are part of The Loyal Workshop team in South Asia.

On the next page are photos of all our overseas and home workers—please pray for them.

TOG ETHER W E CA N RE A C H T H E W O RL D

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Baptist / G L O B A L M I S S I O N

A word from Rachel WHERE GOD LEADS On the wall in my office are images of all the people serving in Asia through NZBMS and on behalf of New Zealand Baptist Churches. As I look at these photos, I’m struck by the variety amongst them—backgrounds, ages, contexts, qualifications, skill sets and personalities.

None of them would claim to be anything special. Like anyone, anywhere, they have their ups and downs, they cope with tragedies, loss of loved ones, celebrations of new life.

They are children, siblings, singles, spouses, parents and grandparents. They have to deal with the same things any of us here in New Zealand have to deal with but they are doing so from afar and in cultural contexts where life is very different. That’s not always easy but if you asked any of them, they would be clear that they are where they are because God has led them there and that’s what sustains them.

Not all are called and led to go but neither are all called and led to stay; but we are all called to share Jesus in word and deed. So which category do you fall into? If you are to stay, how can you be his hands, feet and voice to those in your educational institution, workplace, neighbourhood? If you are to go, what might that look like? Are you prepared to cross a border and to do so without lots of conditions so that God will be evident through you?

It’s a new year. Perhaps there are new opportunities in front of you. Perhaps God’s been prompting and prodding for a while but you’ve pushed it away. May I suggest that now is a good time to actually listen, look and lean into where God is leading you. You might just be surprised!

We are here to support, resource and guide as required and we’d be privileged to be a part of your journey where God leads.

Ngā mihi nui, Rachel Murray, General Director

Each edition, in this column, a member of Mission Council reflects on one of the themes surrounding Prayer and Self Denial 2019. This month, Lyn Davis reflects on “Expect great things, attempt great things.”

This quote from missionary Hudson Taylor conjures up all sorts of feelings. As a young person, and later as an overseas mission worker, expecting and attempting great things seemed a little bit easier, a bit more exciting and somehow more motivating than it does today! For example, we lived in East Asia during a season where God was moving in an amazing way—we saw many young factory workers turn to him during medical clinics we offered; we saw prayers answered as we sat at the door of a school praying for our camp to actually happen against all odds; we experienced many other opportunities where God gave us front row seats in what he was doing. Now, living in comfortable New Zealand and being a little older, the passionate side of life evoked by this saying somehow seems a little further away.

One of my favourite verses since returning to New Zealand has been from James 5:16 (NIV): “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” This reminds me that even though I may not be on the so-called coalface I have a huge part to play in God’s mission—that of prayer. I think sometimes we underestimate the power of prayer—I certainly do, even though, in my own mission journey, I have seen the results of the faithful pray-ers back home. So, this year I invite you to join me in praying bold and audacious prayers for our overseas workers, that we may celebrate God’s great and mighty power at work.

God—this year I’d like to engage with this idea of praying bold, audacious, expectant and effective prayers.

Forgive me for allowing my faith in your ability to do the powerful shrink to the size of a walnut! Give me fresh eyes to see you at work in turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

I’m so grateful for your invitation to join you in the daring adventure of prayer; please shape me into a powerful pray-er.

I may not be called by you to be at the coalface in this season of my life but if I truly believe the words of this verse, then I can still be a part of what you’re doing ‘over there’, as well as in my own neighbourhood, my community and this country I currently call home.

Help me—help us—to be powerful and effective pray-ers and to give you the glory when great and mighty things happen.

Amen.

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N Z B M S

STORIES

Stories of Treasure and Transformation

We love sharing the different ways God is transforming the communities we are a part of.

In this month’s edition of ‘Stories’, we feature two reports from South Asia.

New Believers It has been wonderful to welcome a few new people to our fellowship. Some have been new people arriving in our country for business; others are locals who wish to learn more about Jesus and the transformation he can make to their lives.

Recently, I had the privilege of baptising two young women. One was a high school student whose mother is a believer and whose father comes to church nearly every Sunday with the family but is not (yet) a believer.

The other was a PhD student from the local university. She came to faith last year. The transformation in her as a person has been quite remarkable. She told us that, while still living in her home country, she knew she had to cross the border into our region but had absolutely no idea why. Before arriving, she had no Christian faith and didn’t know anyone who did—now she is a baptised believer.

From Neil and Barb, concluding Tranzsend workers in East Asia

R EAD M ORE

-

R E A C H I N G

T H E

W O R L D

New Life I've been thinking about new life, and my mind turns to Shrek. Remember that movie, the first one? The lovely Princess Fiona was cursed to take on the lugubrious form of a great green ogre until set free by true love’s kiss. When that kiss is finally delivered (by the great green ogre, Shrek), Fiona is confused to discover that she remains, still, an ogre.

I reckon a lot of us are just like Princess Fiona. We encounter the amazing love of the Lord Jesus, we receive the promised new life, and are surprised and confused to discover that we remain, well, ogres. We expected that God would work some magic and change us, but we remain, apparently, the same.

But if we’ve been paying attention to the movie, we know that Fiona’s life truly has changed; she’s been offered a love that completely turns her life around. Her life is different not so much because she is changed, but because she is truly loved just as she is. And that’s what it’s like for us. We do become a ‘new creation’ in Christ, but not because we magically become some completely different creature. Our lives are made new because we are truly loved. It is in receiving and responding to God’s love in Christ that we take on our truest shape as his beloved children.

If we spend all our lives chasing after some sudden transformation, we will inevitably be disappointed. If we instead allow his love to work in us, to reorient our priorities and renew our hope, then we truly will experience new life in Christ.

From Roger, Carolyn and Jethro, Tranzsend workers in East Asia

N O I S S I M

TRIVIA

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about the work of Tranzsend at tranzsend.org.nz. v.135 no.1 † toru tekau mā whitu 37

Baptist / G L O B A L M I S S I O N

Leaving a Legacy SMALL BITES

COMINGS AND GOINGS… NEIL AND BARB Neil and Barb’s time at Oasis International Church in Macau has come to an end. They arrived home late January and are currently visiting churches and other groups around New Zealand. They plan to live in Whakatane.

Please pray as they settle back into Kiwi life.

AARON AND ALLYSIA Aaron and Allysia, with their children Stirling, Layla and Jorja, have been accepted as Tranzsend Associates to serve with the team at Freeset. Aaron is a builder and will be joining Freeset’s infrastructure team.

Allysia has a background in administration, counselling and youth work. Aaron and Allysia are from Bridges Church in Cambridge, with roots in Putaruru Baptist and Whangaparaoa Baptist.

If you are interested in supporting them, or would like them to speak at your church, home group or prayer meeting, please contact info@tranzsend.org.nz.

WOVENLIFE FOUNDATION A number of you will have followed the pre-registration journey of the WovenLife Foundation—a vehicle through which our team in South East Asia intend to partner with foundation local believers, serve and provide economic uplift to the local community, and share the gospel.

After submitting an application at the end of 2016, the South East Asia team have been waiting for the local Government to formally register this organisation as a legal entity—and it’s finally happened.

The WovenLife Foundation is officially registered and the team has received the registration certificate.

This has been a long wait and we are very thankful that this time of waiting has come to an end and we can move forward with our work in this region with confidence. Thank you to all who prayed with us through this process.

38 toru tekau mā waru † v.135 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

Susan Osborne reflects on events from days gone by.

Bed and breakfast Usually referring to accommodation, in NZBMS’s history bed and breakfast also refers to two of our earliest missionary women—Hopestill Pillow (bed) and Annie Bacon (breakfast).

130 years ago, Hopestill Pillow, NZBMS’s second missionary, sailed for India. There she joined Rosalie MacGeorge who had been in India three years. Early in 1890, she wrote about the challenges of language study: I am trying hard to master the language, but at present, when I try to speak to people, I am afraid I make some very funny mistakes. The other day I told our boatman to go home for his dinner, but he thought I meant him to take the boat to the other side of the river to fetch someone. He had gone quite a distance before I discovered my mistake. The people, however, are very kind. They do not laugh at me as they might but try to help me all they can, so I hope I shall soon be able to speak Bengali well, and speak Jesus’ great love for them.

Hopestill mastered the Bengali language and went on to be a valuable worker in Bengal.

She headed up the work in Brahmanbaria, taking over the building of the mission house.

Hopestill also worked tirelessly in the mission dispensary and began a number of village schools. But her love was to visit the local women in their zenanas (part of a building where only women are permitted), bringing the good news of Jesus. She delayed her furlough for a year due to staff shortages, and it was then that her busy lifestyle caught up with her. She became very ill and was taken to Kolkata by Annie Bacon for treatment. Annie shares Hopestill’s final moments which so reflect her life’s calling.

When the nurse came into the room, she called her to her and said, “I’m going home, nurse. Are you ready? You may be, you know.” Her last effort was to win a soul to Jesus!

N Z B M S

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OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE Whatever you do—whatever your skills—whatever your level of education—there will be a role for you somewhere in the world of overseas missions. If you have any of the specific skills needed below, please pray about whether you are being called to serve and contact the emails below for more, no obligation, information.

TRADESPEOPLE

TEACHERS

GENERAL MANAGER

Serving with OMF.

Serving with Interserve.

Serving with Tranzsend.

Electricians, plumbers etc.

Kathmandu Study Centre (KISC) in Nepal is a school of 200 students— high school teachers are urgently needed for July 2019. Subject areas include Maths, Psychology, Drama, Visual Arts, Economics, Business Studies, History and ICT.

Required to lead an engineering business in South Asia—a social enterprise engaged in diesel generator sales, rentals and servicing with minor operations in steel fabrication, hydraulic fittings, manufacturing and solar installations.

Required for approx. three weeks work in April 2019 to assist with the refurbishment of an OMF guesthouse in Thailand.

Spouses also welcome.

Email: nz.serveasia@omfmail.com

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TRIVIA ER A N S Weople fit

np 9 millio cription of s e d the rightar old, n e y 8 2 a d, Ha hande male. e s e Chin

Also required, a Student Support and Guidance Counsellor.

Email: talk2us@interserve.org.nz

This position would manage the current business operations and service contracts. A background in any of the following is advantageous: High voltage electrics; Fabrication; Machining; Diesel maintenance; Chemical process technology; Contract negotiation.

Email: info@tranzsend.org.nz

For more information and to express an interest email info@missionworld.org.nz or phone 09 526 8446.

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Journey with us!

Visit www.tranzsend.org.nz/appeals/psd

ma na i E arah9 201

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