Baptist Magazine v135 n4

Baptist Churches of New Zealand

baptistmag.org.nz

The parable of the pig

Dropped into the middle

The cuppa of kindness

Our hearts wide open

THE SATURATED LEADER † WE COULDN’T DO IT ON OUR OWN!

| A u g u s t / S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 | v. 1 3 5 n o . 4 |

ONLINE

Acts 2:42-47

Recently added FINDING MY TŪRANGAWAEWAE A personal story of a bicultural journey and finding a new place to stand.

~ KEVIN ROBERTSON BOUNDARIES A book review of Brian Winslade’s newest book, about rediscovering the Ten Commandments for the 21st century.

~ ROSS BANBURY

ing of life? Is there nt meaning for our

Bryant argues a case spiritual side of life.

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

BIG QUESTIONS A review of a booklet series by George Bryant that considers three big questions we all face in life.

EDITOR Linda Grigg | linda@baptistmag.org.nz GLOBAL MISSION EDITOR Greg Knowles

~ JANETTE BUSCH

of New Zealand’s leading

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Rebecca McLeay

eople and society, based teacher, preacher, public social worker. He holds a

uding a Master’s Degree gh school principal, he is tian minister and active organizations.

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— Baptist Churches of New Zealand PO Box 12-149, Penrose, Auckland 1642, New Zealand 09 526 0338 — — Front cover photography Crave — 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 (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

— 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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“Give”— contribute, donate, sacrifice

CONTENT 04 08 10

A word from the editor This issue our theme is ‘give’ and is loosely based on Acts 2:45. John Wesley, in his commentary on this verse, says that “love constrained” these early church members to sell their possessions and property for the sake of the poor among them.

Some say this self-sacrificial offering was a short-term response to the needs of their own little group, not an example which Jesus followers need to aspire to today.

Maybe so. But if we examine such Scriptures solely to determine the acceptable limits to our generosity, are we not like the lawyer who asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” As one pastor put it, “are we going to be caught up in questions about who we’re supposed to help, and when and where and how, and what if it will make me late for Sunday School?”1 Giving involves more than the sharing of material assets, of course. Time, which most of us complain we have little of, can be one of our most costly sacrifices.

Time to listen and pray with people, to notice need and respond to it, to offer and receive hospitality, to advocate for those who are unnoticed, and to care for and protect those who are vulnerable. In this issue of the Baptist we see examples of all of these. May they encourage and inspire you.

~ Blessings to you Linda Grigg 1. “Who is Your Neighbour? Well, Who Are You?” Johnathan Parnell: Desiring God, www.desiringgod.org/ articles/who-is-your-neighbor-well-who-are-you.

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FEATURE

Dropped into the middle

REFLECTIONS FROM CHARLES HEWLETT

The saturated leader

CREATIVITY

Creativity versus negative press

CULTURE

Hosts and guests in the mission of God

LEADERSHIP

The cuppa of kindness

NEIGHBOURHOOD & JUSTICE

The parable of the pig

CHILD & FAMILY

Our hearts wide open

OUR STORIES

DIRECTORY

GLOBAL MISSION

We couldn’t do it on our own!

Celebrating the never-ending good news Sounds of joy Opportunities to serve

Baptist / F E A T U R E

Dropped

into the

middle Taking hold of God-given opportunity

04 whÄ â€ v.135 no.4 baptistmag.org.nz

For nine years, ever since a lone Ni-Vanuatu man walked into their service, Kerikeri Baptist Church has had ever-strengthening ties to that Pacific nation. Brian and Stephanie Bullen tell us how God has given the church an unexpected opportunity for mission and ministry, both home and abroad—an adventure that continues to unfold in surprising ways.

So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith (Galatians 6:10).

B

efore they moved to Kerikeri, Brian and Stephanie Bullen had lived in Katikati, another horticultural town dependent on the labour of Recognised Seasonal Employee (RSE) workers. The Bullens were aware of the workers—there were some living at the end of their road—and for a couple of years they thought they ought to do something to engage with them. However it took a move north for their good intentions to come to fruition.

A surprise visit When the Bullens shifted to Kerikeri and found that RSE workers were there too, they determined to connect with them. Brian says he had got as far as praying about it a couple of times, and had the name of someone to ring, when a Ni-Vanuatu RSE worker came through the door one Sunday morning in 2010. After the service, Brian and Stephanie invited him home for lunch. They spent about two hours chatting to him before taking him back to his accommodation.

“The next week three of them walked in the door, and at that point I thought, ‘Yes, we better do something!’” says Brian. “One of our elders had been to Vanuatu and he knew the man who ran the RSE accommodation in Kerikeri.

He talked to the guys and they said, ‘Well, you can start by doing a Bible study with us.’ So that’s where it all began.”

Short-term trips Stephanie looked online to see what other churches in New Zealand were doing with RSE workers. They found Motueka Baptist Church was planning a building project on Lamen Island in Vanuatu, which is where a lot of the seasonal workers who were coming to Kerikeri Baptist at that time originated from.

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Baptist / F E A T U R E

There is a big opportunity for other churches to start looking at what they can do.

“We contacted Motueka Baptist and it worked out well because, while they had been fundraising all year, they didn’t have as many volunteers as previously. So we had 10 people and they had some money. We added a bit more money and they added a few people and, bingo, we were away,” says Brian.

In October 2010 they went to Lamen Island and helped build a women’s meeting house. While their team was doing that, Stephanie and Brian went and met some of the other men who they’d been doing Bible studies with in Kerikeri.

That first trip has been followed by many others. By the end of 2018 around 24 different people from Kerikeri Baptist had gone on one of their short-term trips, and some of them multiple times. They have also taken two people from the Kerikeri AOG church and one man from the Catholic church, who have gone on to develop their own projects there.

Fifteen people from the community have also been involved in various ways. One of the stories that Stephanie says continues to impact her is of a man who joined one of their short-term trips. He was hugely involved in the local soccer club and when he went to Vanuatu he spent a couple of afternoons coaching a village soccer team.

When he returned to Kerikeri he resigned from the local club and restarted the Kaikohe football club, which now has two spin-off teams in the Hokianga.

“He’s got more than 200 children involved in soccer in Kaikohe. And that is purely from his time in Vanuatu and seeing the contrast of need. He decided to go from the ‘haves’ to work with the ‘have-nots’. It’s nothing to do with the church except the church was the catalyst. We have always had the attitude that if people from the community were interested we would take them,” says Stephanie.

“Every time we go up there it strengthens relationships, both in Kerikeri and in Vanuatu,” says Brian. “I’m used to doing short-term trips where people who don’t know each other get together, do whatever they are going to do, come home, separate, and that’s the end of it. But here, a lot of these folk keep coming back to New Zealand. Some have been here 11 years in a row, for up to six months at a time.

So we have built strong connections with them and with their families and villages back in Vanuatu.”

Projects in Vanuatu Projects in Vanuatu that Kerikeri Baptist has organised or been involved with include: repainting a health centre and replacing its mosquito screens; training local health workers and church elders; rebuilding two kindergartens and

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a school/community library devastated by Cyclone Pam; collecting and delivering books for the library; and building a community kindergarten from scratch. Funds for these projects have come from the generous giving of the church, supplemented by Rotary and individuals in the community.

“A couple of years ago we also planted a new fellowship on another island,” says Brian. “Eric, the RSE guy who was the first to walk in the door of our church, had remarried after his first wife died. He had gone up to the island where his new wife’s village is. When he came back he said to me, ‘Oh, Pastor. It is dark up there. No one knows the good news. No one has got Bibles and there is witchcraft.

You have to go there.’

“It is a French-speaking area. Stephanie and I can converse at a basic level in Bislama, which is their common language across the islands, but we don’t speak any French. So in 2017 we organised for Eric to sort out a team and Stephanie and I went up with four Ni-Vanuatu people to his wife’s village. At the end of the week we had 25 folk who decided they wanted to follow Jesus. We taught them how to start meeting and gave them Bibles. The last contact we had indicated they are still going. Hopefully we can return in 2020 because there are more than 2,000 people on that island and in the nearby area, and we have an open door there.”

Projects to improve health, education and spiritual life will continue. However, Brian says the next area they would like to see developed is economic growth, so people do not have to leave their families for months at a time to earn an income.

Mission and ministry at home Kerikeri Baptist holds Bible studies twice a week for Ni-Vanuatu RSE workers in two different locations and, at their request, has also held leadership training with them.

“We’ve had more and more RSE workers arriving. This year we’ve got about 100 from Vanuatu alone. Two Christmases ago we had women in Kerikeri from six different Pacific Island nations. Most RSE workers stay five to six months. I think the RSE scheme is the best aid plan that New Zealand has running because the money goes back, at a grassroots level, into the communities of the people who earn it,” says Brian.

“The horticultural industry is gearing up more and more, and we’ve got employers telling us that the number of RSE workers in New Zealand is

WE’VE DISCOVERED YOU TRY THIS AND T R Y T H AT AND SEE IF IT WORKS.

going to double in the next three to five years. One large produce company takes about 1,000 RSE workers nationwide on their own. So there is a big opportunity for other churches to start looking at what they can do.

“I’ll give you an example. A group of 10 guys we were working with over Christmas shifted down to Hastings to work for another employer, picking apples. While we were down in Havelock North visiting our daughter, we went to find these guys. The place where they are staying has got 200 Ni-Vanuatu workers, in purpose-built accommodation. But, as far as we could find out, there were no churches doing anything with them.”

That’s not to say that meeting with the RSE workers and getting them involved in church activities is without challenges. If it has rained during the week, they will be working in the weekends, or they may get picked up at short notice to go wherever the work is.

“Or you have it all organised and you forget it is the height of FIFA World Cup and they have stayed up to watch a major soccer match overnight!” says Stephanie. “We’ve discovered you try this and try that and see if it works.”

“Certainly learning the language has made a big difference to them,” adds Brian. “I still get frustrated because I don’t know it well enough to preach properly in it, but they can talk to us in Bislama.

“This mission to RSE workers was very unexpected for us. It wasn’t what we thought we were going to in Kerikeri, but God has just dropped us into the middle of it. We just started bit by bit, developing things, finding things, and it has gone incredibly well.”

Story: Stephanie and Brian Bullen, with Linda Grigg Brian is a pastor at Kerikeri Baptist Church. He is passionate about making disciples who make disciples, who in turn make disciples… Stephanie is married to Brian, loves the people of Vanuatu and regards Vanuatu as a second home.

Take outs...

1. Does your church have a similar opportunity for outreach with seasonal workers? Brian and Stephanie admit they are learning as they go about how to minister cross‑culturally to RSE workers, but they are happy to share what they know. They invite you to contact them to discuss ideas you may have for something similar in your own context. Email stephanie@bsb.net.nz or phone 027 453 2765.

2. Want to build your confidence in connecting with people who are culturally different from you? Baptist Multicultural Inclusion Ministries is hosting a ‘Building Cultural Awareness’ workshop in multiple locations around the country in September and October. For more information contact steve.davis@baptist.org.nz.

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Aimee Whitmire/lightstock.com

THE SATURATED LEADER Finding freedom as a child of God

Charles Hewlett says over the years he has learnt that saturating himself in the love of God is one of the most important things that he can do as a leader. He shares here some thoughts from two writers who he has leaned on for ideas in this regard.

IN

his book Life of the Beloved, Henri Nouwen writes that we have to actively claim our ‘chosenness’—that I am a child of God and that he is for me. I have been greatly helped through a three-step process Nouwen outlines:

1

Beware of the destructive message of the world, and expose it for what it is As a leader it’s easy to question your self-worth when the eloquence and charisma of the pastor down the road starts attracting members from your congregation. To feel rejected when the world discards your gospel efforts as irrelevant, even offensive. To believe that you are of no use, good for nothing, when the selection panel questions your capabilities.

Nouwen states, “Every time you feel hurt, offended or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: ‘These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself.’”1 I know the truth about me. God shaped and formed me in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13); he created me, by Christ Jesus, to join him in the work he does (Ephesians 2:10); he actually pays great attention to me,

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down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on my head! (Luke 12:7); and absolutely nothing can get between me and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced me (Romans 8:38-39).

As Nouwen says, “Our preciousness, uniqueness and individuality are not given to us by those who meet us in clock-time—our brief chronological existence—but by the One who has chosen us with an everlasting love, a love that existed from all eternity and will last through all eternity.”2 What message do you most listen to?

2

urround yourself with people and places S that remind you of your true identity People? My friend Steve always reminds me that I am a child of God. It happened again just recently. Only five minutes into our lunchtime conversation he’s quoting Luke 10:20 to me: “But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven” (NLT).

“Charles,” Steve exclaims, “it’s not what you do for God but what God does for you—that’s what we want to get excited about!” I love him!

My day-to-day ministry can be transformed when I saturate myself with the reality that I am a child of God. Places? For me it’s the doors that have been opened by my profoundly disabled children—to communities of truth like Oaklynn Special School, Wilson Home Respite Villas, the Drop in Centre at Elevate, and James’s flat.

First, these communities value me for who I am and not for what I can do. It’s enough for them that I am just present—they hug and smile at me unconditionally. Second, these communities show me what heaven on earth really is. They only function because the people serving within them think of others and not self, they choose service over power, and give up comfort for discomfort.

Third, these communities remind me so clearly of why God created me, what it is that he has called me to do: to love the broken.

Can you think of a place that reminds you of your true identity?

3

Celebrate your chosenness constantly For Nouwen this means saying ‘thank you’ to God for having chosen you, and ‘thank you’ to all who remind you of your chosenness. He notes, “Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are not an ‘accident’, but a divine choice.”3 This can be a battle. Sometimes I think it’s easier to be critical and sceptical, rather than being appreciative and thankful.

I found myself doing exactly this during our recent LEAD Conference in Lower Hutt. After the first evening I began to question my decision to go with fewer keynote speakers and allow more time for discussion.

I went back to my room filled with uncertainty. “What if people don’t like it?” And it wasn’t long till, “My ideas never work!” and “The whole conference will be a disaster!”

However, before I had reached back home, three churches had contacted me with a very similar message: “We were ready to leave the Baptist union of churches but as a result of attending the conference we have decided to stay and to start contributing.” Wow! It wasn’t hard for me to find the good and to be thankful. My sense of inadequacy quickly changed. I walked back into my office with a fresh realisation that Jesus Christ was the head of the church, and that he was graciously choosing to outwork his purposes through my unique skills.

by grace means that I no longer have to strive for praise, acceptance and approval from others.

Being secure in my relationship with my heavenly Father, and knowing that he cares for me, means that peace is much more prevalent than anxiety and self-doubt.

Competition, rivalry and jealousy of the success and position of others can be replaced with humility and unity as I value others and am able to rejoice in their blessings and success.

Counterfeit affections (like addictions, compulsions, escapism and busyness) can be replaced with times of quietness and solitude, resting in God’s presence and love.

And confidence in my own abilities and cleverness is swapped with assurance of his blessings towards me.

How liberating for a leader to be a child of God!

When/how do you celebrate your chosenness?

Carson Pue warns, “There is a subtle erosion that begins to take place in many of us leaders, and we begin to question God’s intentions for us. We come to misunderstand what God intends of us and begin to compensate by ‘doing’ more. By doing so, we lose track of some of the most important things in life and faith.

“We become less convinced that it is all about being a son or daughter of Christ and that the cross is central to our identity as leaders. Our busyness and success in ministry trick us into thinking that it is all about us—when it is all about God.”4 Pue (pp. 53-54) helped me to understand how my day-to-day ministry can be transformed when I saturate myself with the reality that I am a child of God. For example, knowing that I am totally accepted by God and justified

Story: Charles Hewlett Charles is the national leader of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand. He is often heard saying, “I love Jesus. I love the Bible. I love the gospel. I love the church. And I love mission.”

1. Henri J M Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World (USA: Crossroad, 2014), 59.

2. Ibid, 58.

3. Ibid, 60.

4. Carson Pue, Mentoring Leaders: Wisdom for Developing Character, Calling and Competency (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005), 52.

Follow Charles Hewlett: /charles.hewlett.nz /charles.hewlett

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Nathan had to suit the message to the listener— just as we must today. So Nathan asked, “Who is the listener? What will he relate to?

He’s a village man at heart. He understands sheep and shepherds and villages.” Nathan’s Holy Spirit‑inspired narrative caught David off guard. He knew how village life should be. The story touched him. The emotional impact of narrative over logic—the method of Jesus.

The way we give a message affects how it is felt, or, “The medium is the message.”6 Let’s make it easy for listeners.

Dr Beulah Wood President of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand and the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society 1. “Square Text in a Round Form,” Leadership (Fall 1995 vol XVI): 77.

2. Warren Wiersbe, Preaching and Teaching with Imagination (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 123.

3. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preachers and Preaching (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), 235.

4. John Stott, I Believe in Preaching (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1982), 243.

5. The story is in 2 Samuel 12.

6. Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964).

Christopher Burns/unsplash.com

Creativity versus negative press In the 20th century a strong view resisted creativity for sermons. People asked, “Why do we need creativity when we have the truth of God? Narratives are not weighty enough for great certainties.”

I laughed at William Willimon’s riposte: “Some of us are guilty on Sunday morning of preaching biblical ideas in a most unbiblical way... The typical Bible way of dealing with the truth is through narrative, rather than through abstract propositions.”1 Wiersbe spoke bluntly: “God is infinitely original, but those of us who speak about God can be painfully dull.”2 Yes, God is creative and, since humans are made in the image of God, we can be too. Some older big-name preachers appealed strongly for creativity. I’m impressed. For Martyn Lloyd Jones “imagination has a real place in preaching the Truth, because what it does is to make the Truth lively and living.”3 And who could ignore John Stott’s claim? “Illustrations transform the abstract into the concrete, the ancient into the modern, the unfamiliar into the familiar, the general into the particular, the vague into the precise, the unreal into the real, and the invisible into the visible.”4 Think about the incomparable success of Nathan the prophet accosting King David.5 Perhaps he thought, “How can I possibly accuse the king: ‘You are a murderer and an adulterer.

You have sinned. You deserve to die.’ David has the power. If I say that, he could exclaim, ‘Off with his head,’ and I’m a goner.”

But God ‘sent’ Nathan. Perhaps that meant God gave Nathan the method. This needed no reasoning. No theology. No accusation.

Baptist / C U L T U R E

HOSTS AND GUESTS IN THE MISSION OF GOD Prixel Creative/lightstock.com

Surrendering power

Practising hospitality is a basic of Christian life. In Hebrews we are urged to “extend hospitality to strangers”. We get that. But what if there is another way to look at hospitality? Could it be just as blessed to receive as to give? Does effective mission require us to do both? George Wieland suggests it does, and he uses the experience of the apostle Peter to explain why.

TO

offer hospitality requires some adjustment. We’ve just had a crowd of people visiting our family home for a special birthday. It involved moving furniture to create sleeping spaces; considering a range of food needs and preferences; and giving up the normal weekend patterns of our household to share mornings, afternoons and evenings with up to 20 others. Being the host can be very rewarding, but it does take some work.

On the other hand, being the guest also involves effort. Those who came to stay had to consciously adapt to a different household and its ways. When, and what, do they eat? What sort of behaviour is expected?

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It’s interesting that Jesus so often accepted the role of guest.

What’s the protocol for getting your turn in the shower?

Where can you go if you just want to chill for a while? Do you have to wait until you’re offered a drink or a snack or is it OK just to raid the fridge?

In many ways it’s actually easier to be the host. There is work, inconvenience and it may involve cost, but you still hold the power. It’s your space and you get to decide who will be welcome and on what conditions. It might feel chaotic for a time but ultimately you have control over what happens during the visit and how the relationship between host and guests is managed.

However, guests are fully aware that they are in someone else’s space. They can’t go where they want and do as they like. They know that their own familiar practices and preferences will have to be suspended in order to fit in with whatever the host plans and offers, and that their presence in that home is dependent on meeting the host’s expectations of them as guests. They are not in control.

Jesus, the guest It’s interesting that Jesus so often accepted the role of guest. He did host picnics for thousands and a small breakfast barbeque, but they were in public spaces. There was an intimate meal with his friends, but it was in someone else’s house.

On the other occasions in the Gospels in which we find Jesus eating, he is usually a guest. It is the host, not Jesus, who determines who the other guests are, who has access to Jesus while he is in their home, and what protocols will or won’t be followed.

When Jesus sends his disciples out on mission it is not as hosts with the power to meet their own needs and control who they will engage with. They go vulnerably, depending on the hospitality of strangers (Luke 10:4-7). It is as humble and grateful guests rather than powerful and magnanimous hosts that they are able to offer what God enables them to give, and to discern and declare the presence of God’s Kingdom in that place.

Peter’s uncomfortable lesson When the Bible’s story of mission moves from the ministry of Jesus in the Gospels to the mission of Jesus’ followers in the Book of Acts, this motif of the guest-in-mission continues. The experience of the apostle Peter and his companions in the household of the Gentile army officer, Cornelius, is a prime example.

This incident is so significant for the book’s story and theology that it is related three times (Acts 10:1-48; 11:1‑18;

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15:7-11, 14). Peter—and the whole church—had to be reoriented from their monocultural focus and assumptions about the boundaries of the Jesus community, to a recognition of God’s acceptance of people and peoples very different to themselves.

The process involved intense discomfort. Peter received a startling vision. While he waited for dinner on the flat roof of the tanner’s home-workshop where he was staying, the smells of the tannery wafted around him and the sun beat down on a tarpaulin that provided shade. Suddenly the scene morphed into a sheet lowered from heaven bearing all kinds of living creatures, which he was invited to take as food. Of course he objected, on grounds of dietary and religious purity, but the reply was, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (10:15).

Peter realised that this challenge related not only to food but also to people whom he had placed in the category of religiously unclean and unacceptable to God. As his prejudice began to be broken down, three people in that ‘unclean’ category—two slaves and a soldier sent by Cornelius—arrived at the house. It took direct reassurance by the Spirit to persuade Peter to act in accordance with this developing reorientation and welcome them in (10:19‑23).

To be the host extending hospitality to people who were different from him in so many ways was already uncomfortable. But that was nothing compared to the acute discomfort that Peter experienced when he had to change roles and enter the Gentile home as a guest.

This comes through in his very awkward self-introduction: “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean” (10:28).

However, it’s a principle of life and of mission that discomfort precedes discovery.

As Peter heard Cornelius’s testimony of his experience with God and entered that home crowded with Gentiles eager to hear whatever message God had for them, something happened: “Now I’m really getting it—God’s not prejudiced!” (10:34).

That was soon confirmed. As Peter spoke about Jesus to that eagerly receptive audience he looked on in amazement as the Spirit came upon them. It was as a vulnerable guest invited into a home that to him felt

it’s a principle of life and of mission t h at d i s c o m f o r t p r e c e d e s d i s c o v e r y.

strange and even, at first, ungodly, that Peter was able to grasp more fully the scope and character of the mission of God.

Missional guests This speaks to how we think about and do mission. There is a deep‑rooted assumption in many of our church mission efforts that we are in the role of hosts. We invite people into our space, we extend hospitality, and we are willing to share our resources with those who come in. But we hold the power, we exercise control, we are the generous givers and they are the needy recipients.

What if we were to act not as missional hosts but as missional guests? The question then is not how to persuade people to accept our invitation to come into our space but who will welcome us into their space, share what they have with us, and in

return receive what God gives us to take with us as we go?

There are also implications for how we relate across barriers of difference within the church. As migration, refugee settlement, seasonal work schemes and international education increase the cultural diversity of our cities, towns and rural regions, some churches are asking how they can be good hosts to people who come from elsewhere.

That’s an important question to ask and act on, but in the way God works, mission is mutual. Are we also prepared to surrender the host’s power and become guests, accepting invitations into their spaces, their cultures and their lives? That place of initial discomfort could become the space in which we learn together how to be a genuinely intercultural community that reflects God’s saving and reconciling purpose for the world.

Story: George Wieland George is the director of Mission Research and Training at Carey Baptist College, where he has taught since he and his family were welcomed to Aotearoa New Zealand as immigrants nearly 20 years ago. Although hosting has always been part of their life, George has found that it has often been as a guest—in homes, marae, churches, and elsewhere—that he has learned more about God, received what he has needed for life and faith, and been able to make his contribution to what God is doing there.

Take another look …

Amisha’s story Welcomed, loved and accepted When Amisha arrived in NZ, she knew no-one. With a newborn in her care, husband at work, no family and no license, she was trapped. It wasn’t long before she felt suicidal. Someone recommended mainly music. Transport was arranged.

Life took a 180 degree turn. She felt welcomed, loved and accepted. The team and the session itself became her life line.

Not only was she supported with transport and meals, the team prayed with and for her.

A few years on and Amisha, her husband and their three children attend the church.

She is now a follower of Jesus.

And today, she has befriended another woman who finds herself in the same situation.

Connect with your community through mainly music or mainly play Call or email now to find out how:

Primrose on 09 629 6073

nzdevelopment@mainlymusic.org

whakangahau, whakamana, whakatipu mainlymusic.org

mainlyplay.org

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

The cuppa of kindness Offering the gift of compassion

One wintry morning in 2015 a volunteer leader arrived to set up for Birkenhead Baptist Church’s mainly music. To her surprise she found a man sleeping in an old van behind the church. Rather than sending him on his way she made him a cup of tea. Rob Markley tells us about the

B

ruce was a hard-working carpenter who took great pride in his craft. But his work life came to an abrupt end when a fall down a lift shaft broke his hip. The many subsequent years of constant pain caused by his injuries crushed his spirit.

As a sickness beneficiary, Bruce could not afford a private rental, so he moved into a dilapidated van with his elderly dog, Bud. The vehicle was not roadworthy and police would move him on when he parked in reserves.

“Maybe,” he thought, “a church would be a safe place to park for a while?”

Standing in the gap Some might have panicked at discovering a stranger parked up on church property, especially when a crowd of

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mainly music children was soon to arrive. Fortunately for Bruce, our volunteer saw the man, not the inconvenience.

After talking to him and offering him a cup of tea, she then introduced him to me.

We said he could stay on site until he could find alternative accommodation. He and Bud ended up living behind Birkenhead Baptist Church for more than a year.

He used our bathroom and kitchen facilities, and the church community provided him with blankets and food parcels.

The church office also became Bruce’s de facto mailing address and message service.

When Prime Minister John Key suggested homeless people seek help from Work and Income, I contacted the government agency to advocate for Bruce.

I also did some advocating of a different kind. One day Bruce had taken his van out to go to the chemist. He’d not

Mukul Wadhwa/unsplash.com

unforeseen ripple effect of that one kind act.

H E F O U N D A FA I T H I N A L O R D G O D WHO LOVES AND CARES, AND IN WHOM WE ALL MUST PUT OUR HOPE. gone far before the police pulled him over. One of the church people was driving past the scene at the time and they called me to tell me what was happening. I hightailed it around the corner and sweet-talked the police into not seizing the van but letting him take it back to church.

When a local newspaper did a front-page write-up about Bruce’s homelessness in March 2016, the part of the story that particularly touched people was Bud. A lot of dog lovers rang up offering Bud, and Bruce, short-term accommodation. They really missed the point!

However, from that publicity, someone offered the church the loan of an old campervan. Bruce was able to sit up, even stand, in the campervan, instead of having to lie down all the time like he’d had to do in the van. He had power from the church and lighting. It was the half-step back into normalcy that he needed.

A miracle unfolds Meanwhile something wonderful was happening in Bruce’s life. God was freeing something in him and was watching over him. Bruce attended an Alpha course at church. One day he got up the courage to ask me if I’d baptise him. “Of course I will!” I said.

Forty-eight hours later, Housing New Zealand called to say they had a place for Bruce. I tell you, homeless single men in their 50s, especially those with a dog, never get state houses. Never! God had been waiting for Bruce to take that step.

Bruce wasn’t sure he wanted to leave the church, but the step up to the camper had prepared him. We baptised him two weeks later and he

moved into his new home the following day. It was a miracle of timing!

Growing in faith Sometimes Bruce would come to our prayer meetings. When he prayed it was so down-to-earth and real, like he was just talking to a friend, which he was. I specifically recall one time when he was quite dejected and asked God for help. An old acquaintance unexpectedly turned up that same day and gave Bruce some money and food.

Bruce loved the church band and the music we played. There was a moment when he thought about picking up his old guitar again and playing with them.

But some days he wouldn’t make it to the Sunday morning service. He told me, “Sometimes I just can’t be bothered and I think I’ll just sleep some more, but that afternoon I really miss it. I realise the Devil doesn’t want me to go, but I’m not going to listen to that anymore.” Oh, that others would be as wise as Bruce.

Farewell Bruce died on the morning of 15 September 2018, just shy of his 57th birthday. He had stage four emphysema and had recently had a stroke. At the end, Bruce passed into the hands of the Lord while in the arms of those he loved. His funeral was held at Birkenhead Baptist and Bud is now being taken care of by family.

Bruce was a kind and happy man.

He held no bitterness about him; he was generous to a fault. In his last years he found a faith in a Lord God who loves and cares, and in whom we all must put our hope.

And Bruce’s step towards that faith began with a simple cup of tea.

Story: Rob Markley Rob is the pastor at Birkenhead Baptist Church. He says, “It’s often assumed that Auckland’s North Shore is all ‘middle‑class prosperity’, but Birkenhead Baptist is a place of support and restoration for many in the community struggling with a diverse range of issues. In fact the church itself is often weighed down by these things but God has always been faithful, providing and resourcing his church for his work in people’s lives.”

Take outs...

1. A thought to ponder: “Christian leadership— in the home, the church, and elsewhere—is not for those clawing for honor and recognition, but for those most ready to fall to their knees and be inconvenienced by the needs of others.” (“True Leadership Is Sacrifice, Not Privilege,” David Mathis: desiringGod, desiringgod.org/ articles/true-leadership-issacrifice-not-privilege.)

2. Starting with the mainly music volunteer and her simple act of providing a listening ear and a cup of tea, the faith community at Birkenhead Baptist provided ongoing practical, spiritual and emotional support to Bruce. How willing are you to offer the gift of compassion to others?

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

The parable of the pig Creating the kind of neighbourhood we all crave

Some years ago a small bunch of suburban Christians surveyed their neighbourhood to find out what locals felt was missing. The answer? A sense of belonging. In response, that group created a café to provide a space where locals could connect. Crave café has since grown through several stages and recently won ‘Outstanding Café’ in the 2019 Lewisham Awards.

Blue Bradley tells us about one of Crave’s initiatives: a biannual street party.

I’M

a hunter. One day while I was driving back from the Bay of Plenty with a wild boar in the back of my car, I had the crazy idea that maybe we could feed our community with

this pig.

Mosaic, our faith community, had not long moved into Morningside, a semi-industrial suburb on the fringe of Auckland city. There was no real community feeling or sense of belonging in our ‘hood. We wanted to take risks, to try out ideas that we didn’t think could really work to see if they just might... and decided to throw a street party to try to bring us together.

A Kiwi parable The idea was pretty simple: put the pig on a spit, roll it out onto the roadside, put a couple of orange cones out to make it legit, and stand there cooking it for seven hours.

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If anyone walked past during the day, they must be from our ‘hood so we invited them over for dinner at 6pm.

They laughed at us, avoided us, and even swore at us.

Well, 6pm came and went and... no one showed.

Ha, shame! We laughed with—but mostly at—each other and reminded ourselves that ‘we knit our parachute on the way down’. To us this meant taking risks with no sure outcomes, the result being we were looking at eating a lot of pork by ourselves!

A mere 15 minutes later, a small group had appeared.

Before long, more than 80 people were crowded around and eating together at our party that night. The relief!

We talked about life, love, belonging and the neighbourhood. Some talked about how it used to be and others how it yet could be. Hopes and dreams were shared through tears from people who had never felt love given and shared like that. That night the community we had dreamed of belonging to was birthed right there in

TH AT NIGHT THE C OMMUNIT Y W E H A D DRE A MED OF BEL ONGING T O WAS BIR THED RIGHT THERE IN FR ONT OF US.

front of us. I felt like I was caught up in some Kiwi parable: “A man caught a pig and cooked it on the side of the road, and invited his neighbours to dinner.”

Freely and gladly given The following year we hosted another street party; more than 200 attended.

The next year 400-plus came and ate pizza and danced in the rain.

Things took off from there as we gathered momentum. Neighbours would always ask, “What’s happening this time? What are we cooking?

What needs to be done? Where can I help?”

We always put just enough organisation into the party that it might fall over if it was left entirely up to us, yet somehow on the day everybody chips in and helps to make it work. There are usually bands, bouncy castles, endless queues for the milkshakes and drinks. We have cooked epic paellas, wood-fired

pizza, and a range of meats from spit roasts and smokers, to name a few.

The great thing about it is that everyone is welcome: the ‘down and out’, ‘the ‘doing well’, young and old alike. Our ‘hood is an eclectic mix of folk that is hard to define by one demographic. All they have to bring is themselves, and everything is free and gladly given.

We want to create a space in which it is safe to be known. Crave café hosts our street parties but in a real sense it belongs to our ‘hood (just like your church does), to the people who sit in the café every day or who work or live around here. We’re not bringing something into the ‘hood with some weird evangelist strategy; we want to be part of creating a neighbourhood that we too want to live in.

We host two street parties a year attracting 800 to 1,000 people each time. At a rough count, we reckon we have cooked, served and given away around 13,000 meals since our first

street party in March 2010.

Not a bad result for a wild and random idea.

Story: Blue Bradley Blue is the director of Northern Easter Camp—he is as passionate about young people as he is about all things outdoors.

Blue has a knack for storytelling and connecting people, and likes to think he also has a knack for fishing. He literally wants to change the world and believes the next generation are fully equipped to do it. Blue lives with his wife Katey, kids Aengus, Torin and Ciara, and dog Jed. He co-pastors Mosaic Morningside and is all about making the neighbourhood a better place to live and work.

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our hearts

W I D E

O P E N

Inviting in the stranger Law changes made on 1st July 2019 aim to raise the standard and improve the practice of foster care in New Zealand. We asked Tunumafono Tracey-Leigh Peters of Iosis— a non‑government organisation with strong Baptist links—to tell us about what it takes to care for children and young people in vulnerable situations. And we also hear from two Baptist couples whose families have taken that step.

F

irstly, what is the connection between Iosis, foster care and Baptists?

Iosis is a charitable company wholly owned by the Baptist Union of New Zealand. Although Iosis was formed in 2006, it evolved out of pre-existing Baptist social services. One of these was the Manurewa Children’s Home, which was a national initiative by the Baptist Union.

The Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 moved to put children into foster homes rather than in orphanages. Consequently, the Manurewa Children’s Home was closed and the work was moved into family homes with caregivers. At the time of writing, 22 children are in our care. We have 23 carers currently and the longest serving of these has been with us just over seven years.

Foster carers receive allowances for children in their care, but is there a personal cost to being a carer?

Yes, there are sacrifices that are made, as with anything of this nature, but most people who commit to caring for foster children are aware of this. They become involved because they’re willing and committed to making a difference.

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For example, carers may have to take time off work using their own sick or annual leave to look after a foster child.

And as with anything, the best-laid plans can go awry as we saw recently when a child in care was to visit their parents but the transport organised by Oranga Tamariki didn’t arrive. At the last minute the carer filled in and was happy to do so. Things like this do pop up from time to time and Iosis ensures that foster carers are aware of this as a part of their induction.

However, the biggest difference between caring for your own children and a child in foster care is in relation to security. For example, a carer can’t necessarily take the foster child to a wedding or other special occasion in case they have to manage an unexpected situation. Even something as seemingly simple as having friends over for a barbeque has an extra layer of complication because visitors to a carer’s home need to be police checked.

What makes a good carer?

Having a heart for children is a good start, but that’s not enough. We need carers to be resourceful: able to deal with situations that may arise on the spot. Children coming into care will often have complex needs and you never know what you are going to get from them on any given day.

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Baptist / C H I L D & F A M I L Y

They become involved because they’re willing and committed to making a difference

HOME FOR LIFE

We have a carer who recently had a teenager in their care who was swearing at them. Those situations are not easy, so the ability to see past what’s coming out of their mouth and being resilient to persevere with them is vital. Having structure and consistency around rules and expectations, balanced with a nurturing spirit, is also important.

The media has focused recently on children being placed into state care at birth. Lots of people want to look after babies but we desperately need caregivers in New Zealand who have the characteristics I mentioned and who are willing to support school-age or older tamariki too.

Iosis has a programme helping mums who are struggling with parenting. Tell us about that.

As far as I know, Iosis is the only foster care agency in New Zealand that also has a residential parenting programme. Mums (and usually their young children) stay at our Merivale Whanau Development Centre for six to nine months, during which time the mothers are educated and supported to learn new behaviours and parenting skills.

Two of the biggest outcomes mothers who graduate from Merivale comment on are learning to pick up on their children’s cues for their attention, and understanding their own patterns of behaviour that led them to where they are now. For example, Merivale programmes that look at family violence or addiction enable them to learn alternative ways to deal with stress or negative feelings.

Sometimes when they leave Merivale these mothers are confronted with their past environments, relationships or decisions. However, with the skills, tools and knowledge they receive at Merivale, they have fresh insights towards those things and can apply what they have learned to keep themselves and their children safe.

Story: Tunumafono Tracey-Leigh Peters Tracey-Leigh has worked at Iosis for more than 10 years and has been CEO for the past four years. She is one of the representatives for the Baptist Churches of New Zealand on the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services.

Kia ora, whānau.

In our family we have the absolute pleasure of caring for an awesome little three-year-old, who has come through Oranga Tamariki. He is about to become a permanent placement with our family— another Hema! We are so blessed to have him in our lives; he is our son and we love him.

We chose to do this because we are aware of how children who are in care do not always have a safe home. We know a young lady who was abused in care.

Recent news states that in 2018 more than 220 children in care in New Zealand were abused. Horrible statistics. Our family could provide a safe home.

We were also responding to the Scripture that asks whether we invited in the stranger, whether we fed and gave clothes. God leads our life, and we have only been blessed by his leading.

We care because we know God desperately cares for these children, and we can be his hands and feet. Our little man is such a joy. I think we are the ones who are really getting blessed!

Noho ora mai rā me aku mihi nui atu.

Story: Winston and Katrina Hema

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Baptist / C H I L D & F A M I L Y

S H O R T -T E R M F O S T E R C A R E Four young children alone at home, aged just five, four, three and two. Dad was in jail. Mum would lock the kids inside while she went out drinking. The five-year-old was trying to cook for his younger siblings when police found and uplifted them. We had the privilege of embracing the older two into our home.

They remained in contact with their younger siblings in foster care nearby.

We saw incredible development over the three months. The eldest child hadn’t been to preschool much, and was initially drawn to baby toys. We watched his accelerated learning move from infant toys, to toddler puzzles and Duplo, toward Lego building suitable for his own age. Wow! In a healthy setting, children can begin to thrive.

Meanwhile our own children have been enriched through these experiences. The transformation of Jesus begins in everyday settings like our homes and families. We believe that in welcoming these little ones, we are welcoming Jesus.

There was a positive outcome for these four, who now live permanently with extended family. We’re grateful to have been partnering with an amazing Christian organisation, Open Home Foundation, over the past 15 years.

Story: Tim and Jenni Palmer

“Fostering a child is so important.

You can see the difference you’re making.”

Nonnie and Tomo started fostering children for what they could give, not what they would gain. But six years later, they’ve gained something they never expected: a daughter.

Do you want to make a difference in a child’s life?

Do you have a sincere desire to help a child have a better life? Can you give a child or young person a welcoming and loving home?

In their 40s, with no children of their own, the couple had no burning ambition to be foster carers – until Nonnie attended a foster care information evening on a whim. When she came home she told husband Tomo, “We’ll go for it.”

If you answered ‘yes’, we’d love to hear from you! Iosis is an Auckland-based Christian social services organisation that works with children, young people and families in vulnerable situations.

They had intended to be respite carers only, and to look after pre-teens and teenagers. However, about four months into fostering they got a call from Iosis that would change their lives forever.

Nonnie and Tomo

Four nights caring for a five-year-old girl turned into weeks, then months and years. Now they have a daughter because recently they’ve been appointed Gemma’s* ‘home for life’.

During their time as Iosis foster carers, the couple has had 20 or more children stay with them, mostly for respite care, and they plan to foster more in the future.

“Fostering isn’t easy, but it’s incredibly worthwhile,” says Nonnie. “When Gemma was about six years old, she said to me, “You can’t make it alright, but you can make it better. And that’s what we’re here to do – to teach the children to have good relationships and make their lives better. Even if you’re only in their life for a short term, you’re so important.”

“The people who foster children do it for the love of the kids and wanting to make a difference”, says Nonnie. “Gemma is not the same child who came through our door. I’m proud of the fact that, together, we have been able to support Gemma to become a very confident child. That’s what you wish for. And that’s why we’re still doing it.”

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ADVERTORIAL

Name changed to protect identities.

*

Right now, we’re looking for individuals or families willing to foster a child or young person. It doesn’t matter where you live in Auckland, or what your background, ethnicity or culture – as long as you can offer them a safe, stable and nurturing environment. In return, we can offer reimbursement, 24/7 support, on-going training, and connection with fellow Iosis foster carers.

Being a foster carer might be the most challenging role you’ll ever take on. But it could be the most rewarding too!

If you’re interested in becoming a foster parent, contact Sophia Misipati at Iosis, by calling 09 281 3716 or emailing enquiries@iosis.org.nz.

Refreshment, renewal… & Registration

Hanmer Springs is world famous for its hot springs and history as a place of refreshment and restoration. People come to soak away the aches, pains and worries of life. Once a year Baptist pastors also gather in Hanmer to soak, but in a totally different way.

Hanmer Retreat is a time of prayer, fasting (for those who choose to) and spending extended periods ‘soaking’ in the presence of Holy Spirit. People often come seeking direction, breakthrough and refreshment for, and from, the rigours of pastoral ministry. Over the years people have had significant moments as Holy Spirit has ministered deeply to them.

This year was my second time at the retreat. I wasn’t seeking God for anything specific and I joked that I was just attending to tick off my pastor’s registration requirement of wider Baptist engagement. There are plenty of ways to tick this off but Hanmer has to be the most refreshing! Being able to relax, not having to think about what is happening next, and simply being able to be

rawpixel.com/unsplash.com

Our stories ministered to makes the Hanmer Retreat fantastic. It is a safe and welcoming place and the team know how to minister in the Spirit.

Even though I wasn’t seeking God for anything specific over the retreat, God in his mercy gently dealt with a few old scars. God also continued to restore an old friendship and it was a joy to be able to reconnect, pray and eat with one another. Through a prophetic word I was encouraged to be more creative. I have always been somewhat of a creative type, primarily through music, but ministry was squashing some of that.

At Hanmer, God reminded me that not everything I do needs to be for ministry; it can just be for fun! So on my return home I dusted off my old tenor sax.

If you have never been to the Hanmer Retreat it isn’t the easiest way to tick off some of your registration requirements but it is the best!

Story: Simon Williams Co-Pastor, Kaiapoi Baptist Church

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

Every Queen’s Birthday weekend 500 youth leaders from around New Zealand gather for BYM’s Youth Ministry and Leadership training conference.

Four keynote speakers, 24 different seminars and over 35 different presenters and panellists all combine to help create a transformational, inspirational and team building weekend for our Baptist youth leaders.

The QB2019 theme was ‘Small Things Matter’. Because small things add up. We have a big God who acts through small things. Grains of sand make a beach. A small stone takes down a giant. A small baby changes eternity.

Therefore, the small acts of kindness and love we show our youth are the very things God uses to accomplish his big plans in both the life of his church and our young people.

The morning sessions of QB are more ‘youth ministry conference-mode’. Mark Oestreicher, author and speaker from The Youth Cartel in the USA, was QB’s overseas guest speaker. Marko was both encouraging and empowering, with keynote talks on the transformational power of prayer and the importance of intermediate ministry.

Six different streams of seminars followed the morning sessions including missional, foundational, social (issues), transformational (leadership and practices), theological and pastoral topics.

The night sessions at QB are ‘church’. Worship, testimony, great biblical preaching around ‘small things matter’ and ministry time within teams was the focus. QB’s evening speakers included Dr Sarah Harris from Carey Baptist College, who explored why small phrases by Paul like ‘in Christ’ matter, and Ps Lindy Jacomb from Karori Baptist Church who highlighted how God is always found in the ordinary. Dr Brian Krum, BYM’s national leader, spoke on the feeding of the 5000 and how, while we each are just a bread roll, it’s God who accomplishes his plans and ‘feeds’ so many through each of us. He closed QB19 by speaking about how mustard seed faith is about Jesus, the object of our faith, instead of the size of our faith.

BYM’s QB Leader’s Training really is an event that is not to be missed. Thank you for helping your youth ministry teams make this short training event. Because small things like this weekend really do matter.

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Hauoratanga young adults camp Young adults, millennials, generation Z—they are a generation full of passion and vision. They love to be heard and involved and to make a difference. They love a good protest too! Young adults are making their voices heard for change, whether in the Me Too movement, in action against climate change, or in choosing to support companies and brands that are leaving the world a better place.

Imagine if we the church could capture the heart of this generation and see those passions and involvement applied to our local churches? It will require churches to think differently about how this generation might serve, and to have an openness to change. The benefit will be the heart of this generation impacting the Kingdom of God. The Northern Baptist Association

is running a young adults camp this September, called Hauoratanga. Our vision for this camp is that young adults will come and be refreshed in spirit, have passions birthed, and that they will go back to their local church and find their place. Our prayer is that the camp, which is open to all regions, will help our young adults meet others and see their importance in the church, and that it will be a platform for future events, community building and vision casting.

Where do we hope to see young adults in five years’ time? My hope is that we hear of young adults as a generation having a voice and being given space to serve in churches, on eldership teams, and helping to make decisions in our Baptist movement.

Their voice is vital to the future of our churches. So let’s put some feet on

this and get moving. We are starting with our camp!

For those closer to Foxton, make sure to check out the Wellington Association’s camp, Imagine. And for those closer to Ngāruawāhia, Hauroratanga will be run at the CYC camp there.

This could be the start of something truly beautiful for young adults and for God’s Kingdom.

See northernbaptist.org.nz/ youngadultscamp for more information.

Story: Melissa Wilson Young Adult Coach Northern Baptist Association

Be part of Carey’s future Over the past 93 years we have trained thousands of Christians to think, live, and lead in ways that advance God’s kingdom in this world.

Would you help us continue this strategic work of forming Christian leaders for the future? Would you consider leaving a bequest to Carey in your will?

By partnering with us in this way you’ll be making a significant, eternal investment in the kingdom of God. To find out more please contact John Tucker, Carey’s Principal: john.tucker@carey.ac.nz | 09 526 0342

carey.ac.nz

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

BEING ‘MESSY’ TOGETHER Ever since I first heard of Messy Church I have wanted to run one! I have a passion to see people reached for Jesus, and the concept of a church service that would reach out to the unchurched intrigued me.

Kumeu Baptist Church regularly meets for prayer meetings with other local churches and runs the local Light Party together with them. I first approached St Chad’s Anglican-Methodist church last year to ask if they were interested in the concept of Messy Church, and together we went to visit one. The answer was a resounding yes!

We then asked each of our leadership/eldership boards for permission to run it together and to split the costs involved.

We put together a planning committee consisting of two volunteers from Kumeu Baptist and four from St Chad’s to decide on the details. St Chad’s had been running a community dinner regularly and the cooks were happy to provide the meal for Messy Church.

Marelize Bester (Kumeu Baptist) put together a professional-looking poster, which we distributed to

kindergartens, mainly music and letter boxes, and put on local community Facebook pages. Church members were encouraged to bring along neighbours or unchurched friends and family. Kumeu Baptist planned most of the craft activities and St Chad’s organised games and the meal.

We had 11 volunteers from each church, plus members who came along to mingle with the community.

The response was positive—in fact, it was everything I had dreamed of. More than 100 people, including volunteers, enjoyed a great afternoon of activities, worship, celebration and the Easter story from Lost Sheep, Dave the Donkey. Families took home a craft made from wood with the verse “He is not here. He is risen”, made salvation bracelets that explained the gospel message, and received a Scripture Union booklet with the Easter story for children.

Over the mealtime, church people mingled with guests and many families were talking about the ‘real Easter story’.

Our second Messy Church was held recently and drew 100 people. We look forward to continuing Messy Church and reaching more people with the good news. For more information please email me, candrmoodie@gmail.com.

Story: Raewyn Moodie Northern Regional Coach, Baptist Children and Family Ministries and member of Kumeu Baptist Church

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40 years of Baptist tramping 2019 is a milestone year for the Auckland Baptist Tramping Club. A book about the club will be out soon, and a 40th anniversary reunion will be held on the 13th to 15th September at Ngāruawāhia.

Starting from an outdoors youth activity at Sandringham Baptist Church, the tramping group was first convened in the 1970s by John Collins. A constitution was agreed upon in 1979 and, with Auckland Baptist Association support, the Auckland Baptist Tramping Club was incorporated and affiliated with Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand.

Tramps occur most weekends and are overnight, day or half day. The club caters for people of different fitness levels, for families, singles and folk of all ages. Extended tramps occur over long weekends and after Christmas, in the South Island and elsewhere. Overnight tramping is not always as hard as it sounds and is extremely rewarding.

It takes us to unimaginably beautiful, remote places and it also has the excitement of planning, sharing, and encountering all kinds of weather! Dusky Sound, Ball Pass, mountain peaks... there are so many places we have been.

Club social nights and training days are well attended and members have travelled together overseas for tramping in Australia, North America, Nepal and the UK. The club’s executive members are committed Christians and club objectives include fostering tramping, conservation, Christian fellowship and witnessing to the Christian faith. Every tramp starts with prayer and each day a club member leads us in a devotion.

Among our 125 members there are many who are unfamiliar with the Christian faith. They love sharing and being part of our Christian family. Further, the club is an opportunity for people who have suffered loss, grief, trouble or depression to enjoy God’s wonderful creation and the friendship of others. Worry and stress fade as we talk with Christian friends in natural surroundings. It is wonderfully healing. Some have found marriage partners through the club too!

For more information about the club’s activities or the reunion, visit our website abtc.net.nz.

Story: Paul Ungemuth

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

You can help Baptist Women

Chris Beales-White at CWS63 (2019)

When a society lifts women up, that same society begins to flourish.

Research from around the world shows that when there are strong local women’s activities there is more positive social, economic and political change.1 Although it is 2019, women still need a place to be heard. According to Gender Equal NZ, Aotearoa is seventh in the world in equality, where once we led.

Baptist Women New Zealand (BWNZ) is our national board that aims to support, encourage, mentor and develop women in Baptist churches. The board seeks to build up effective and inspiring leadership as well as supporting all aspects of a women’s life, to be all she is called to be.

BWNZ has already been on the world stage this year at the United Nations, at the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

Through our affiliation with the Baptist World Alliance, Chris Beales-White attended as our representative, meeting other Baptist representatives and other

Myk Habets says Farewell After 15 years working for Carey Baptist College, I finished at the end of the first semester this year. My roles there had included being lecturer in theology and ethics, a member of the senior management team, director of research, head of Carey Graduate School, and dean of faculty. I was also acting principal in 2014.

In these roles I was the driving force behind Carey’s strategic research objectives and an integral part of Carey’s journey from being a small denominational training school to being a quality tertiary theological educational institution.

During my time there I worked under three brilliant principals.

I enjoyed the collegiality of the faculty and staff, learning with my students, working on various programmes and initiatives, and producing quality research for the church. Carey is a unique place and I will always have fond memories of my time there.

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New Zealand NGOs, and inputting into feedback for New Zealand’s Ministry for Women.

In August New Zealand women will participate in the Arise Conference with other women from Baptist churches of the South West Pacific. The conference in Fiji will focus on the scriptural call for women to step forward with the gospel, without hesitation. This conference is open to all Baptist women in the region and we would love to see more Kiwis there.

We have more opportunities both locally and worldwide to realise these aims; what we need is women to join us and make the difference.

To meet our aims and see Baptist women in our country flourish, BWNZ needs financial support as well as more women to serve on the board. To partner with us or for more information, contact Chris or myself at women@baptist.org.nz.

Story: Andrea Page Chair, Baptist Women New Zealand 1. https://bit.ly/2Xqqp0n

Reunion of Bible class and young people’s fellowship

Forty-three people, some now in their 80s, travelled from Australia and many parts of the North Island in April 2019, to attend a reunion at the Mt Albert Baptist Church, the place of their former Bible class and young people’s fellowship.

They are part of a close-knit group of more than 100 who were young people under the pastorship of Clifford Reay at Mt Albert Baptist Church in the 1950s.

Over the last 60 years these once suburban teenagers have enjoyed many similar get‑togethers. The group is now diminishing in numbers through age and infirmity.

However, they are still glad to meet, and very grateful for those years of strong Christian leadership, direction and example from Clifford Reay—a pastor to whom they give much credit for their lifelong bond. A pastor, they say, who guided them, discipled them, and knew them as his own.

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

LEAD Conference 2019 was a huge success.

A record 280 Baptist leaders from around the country attended the event, which was expertly hosted by Hutt City Baptist Church on the 24th to 26th June 2019.

With the theme of ‘Together’, the conference was focused on having conversations about who we are, what our purpose is, and how we are to serve. So, as well as hearing from keynote speakers Charles Hewlett and Mick Duncan, and from nine speakers who gave thought‑provoking TED Talks style presentations, there was ample time given for attendees to speak from the floor and to talk in small groups about the ideas being raised. A panel discussion and four interactive seminars also took place, making it a full but invigorating programme.

“For me it was as much about who spoke as it was about the content,” says one attendee, Steven Goulstone. “I was super encouraged by the many different voices that contributed both from the front and from the crowd. There was something beautiful in the creation of space to hear from each other. Charles Hewlett’s facilitation of the discussions, his off-the-cuff ‘I want to pray for you/this’ moments, and his

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encouragement for us to be silent as God was speaking were all profoundly special. Sharing communion with people I had only ever seen across the room at a Baptist Hui was also a wonderful gift.”

LEAD takes months of preparation—and a special ‘shout‑out’ must go here to the Hutt City team led by Rob Petrini and to the National Centre staff involved—but the hard work is more than worth it when you get feedback like this:

“

LEAD WAS INSPIRING. GREAT CONVERSATION. MASSIVE FOCUS ON JESUS. NINE SUPERB CAMEOS FROM PEOPLE LIKE US. CHARLES AND AN OUTSTANDING SUPPORT CREW GETTING US YARNING ABOUT WHAT MAKES US TICK. I CAN’T WAIT FOR HUI IN NOVEMBER. THANKS!” – CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

I’ve been pondering something for a few weeks now... is it time for a new wineskin? At a recent gathering we had after our fantastic LEAD Conference, I believe there was a prophetic revelation dropped into our laps as a leadership group that can’t be ignored.

Have we as the Baptist Union of churches for too long been sewing unshrunk patches of cloth onto a well‑weathered garment, only to see it tear away and make matters worse?

Have we for too long been pouring new wine into old wineskins, only to see them burst and lose that new wine? The old adage runs something

like this: the definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting different results. Are we flogging some poor aged and lame horses, hoping to generate a thoroughbred racer? Is it time to get off some of these horses?

As we reflected together as a leadership group that next day, I think we felt what I believe to be a little bit of an awakening... maybe, dare I say, a fundamental shift that was both profoundly uncomfortable and yet exhilarating at the same time. It will require the laying down of insecurities and control in the pursuit of renewal for our movement of churches—a shift that may need the whiteboard to be wiped clean and a new plan to be drawn. It is a change that may require a good number of us to ask difficult questions of ourselves and maybe even to radically reprioritise our efforts and resources.

Does that excite you? Or does it create fear and suspicion? What

I sensed from the leaders gathered there that day was optimism and confidence—a team prepared to lay what’s needed on the line for change.

Will you join us?

Ngā mihi nui Rob Stacey Assembly Council Chair

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.

Small Fries Windsor Park Christian Childcare Centre, Auckland

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

>

meet…

Betty Chan

volunteer

Betty Chan immigrated to New Zealand in 2008 from her native Malaysia. She and her family attend Northcote Baptist Church and she volunteers in the church’s op shop. This is her story.

What brought you to New Zealand?

My daughter completed her education in New Zealand and also met her husband here. When she was about to have her first child, I came to help. I had been here a few times before to visit. I love the people here; they are so helpful.

Total strangers will bend over backwards to help you.

The weather is great too—compared to Malaysia it is like air‑conditioning 24 hours! I love this country very much and thank God for sending me here.

You experienced some unexpected communication problems when you first came. What were these?

I’m a native English speaker, was educated in English, and am a former teacher. However, when I first came to New Zealand I struggled to comprehend the Kiwi accent.

I couldn’t understand a word! I was afraid to answer the phone in case I didn’t know what was being said.

Language problems can be isolating for new migrants. How did you cope?

Initially I missed all my friends and my social life was down to zero. But my daughter introduced me to other Malaysians living in New Zealand, and I got involved in a New Zealand‑based Malaysian group participating in global rallies to fight for free and fair elections in Malaysia.

After I had been living in New Zealand for about 18 months, I started volunteering at Northcote library.

I taught elderly Chinese migrants how to read simple books in English and how to recognise sentences.

For about the past five years I have been a regular volunteer at the Northcote Baptist Op Shop, serving people at the counter. Working alongside the other volunteers and dealing with customers gave me confidence with speaking.

I get to meet all types of people and have made friends of all kinds of nationalities. That is very good for me.

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You believe churches can play a role in helping migrants to settle. Tell us about this.

I think churches could help by offering practical, situational English conversation classes, teaching language that the migrants can use in their everyday lives, like going to the shops and understanding the staff. Also, churches could hold regular social occasions where different cultures can mix and share food from their own culture. But you need to make sure the groups don’t naturally segregate, which is what I have noticed happens sometimes. Language is the barrier there.

You were interviewed as part of an AUT University research project about late-life Asian migrants in New Zealand. What did this research find?1 Language problems were identified as one reason why recently arrived older migrants are more likely to feel socially isolated than those who are younger or who have been settled in their new country longer. The popular view is that recent migrants should be integrated as soon as possible into the general community. However, the researchers believe that it is important for late-life migrants’ health and well-being to concentrate first on contributing to their own ‘ethnic enclaves’. Later, as language ability and confidence grows, many will desire to give back to the general community.

That was my experience too. I started volunteering with a Malaysian group here. This helped with my feelings of isolation and loneliness. Then, when I had gained more confidence, I began volunteering in the wider community.

1. Valerie A. Wright-St Clair , Shoba Nayar , Hagyun Kim , Shi Mu Wang, Supreetinder Kaur Sodhi, Audrey Chung, Jeet Suchdev & Chongbao Hu, “Late-life Asian immigrants managing wellness through contributing to socially embedded networks,” Journal of Occupational Science (2017):51-64. doi.org/10.1080/14427 591.2017.1370607.

100 Years Ago Eric Nils Lundquist: Generous, faithful, humble 6 May 1919 – 20 May 2019 Eric was born in Foxton. He began his working life as a mechanic and had started theological studies when World War II broke out. He served three years in the Pacific and one in New Zealand.

On return to civilian life in 1945, Eric was employed

by Bob Hogan as a works mechanic at Oamaru lime works. It was the beginning of a partnership with Hogan and Jules Fulton in the company that eventually became Fulton Hogan Holdings Ltd. He worked for the company for 54 years, including 44 as director.

At Eric’s funeral service Jim Fulton spoke of the way Eric’s integrity, deep concern and involvement in the well‑being of the staff have impacted the values and ethos of the company to the present day.

1945 was also the year Eric married Dorothy Thompson. The couple had three daughters: Anne, June and Robyn. The family began their spiritual lives at Mornington Baptist Church (Dunedin).

In 1981, on his retirement from Fulton Hogan, Eric and Dorothy moved to Mosgiel where they attended East Taieri Presbyterian Church. Dorothy passed away in 2012.

Both Eric and Dorothy generously supported many ministries, but particularly New Zealand Baptist missionary work, and the work of the Andes Evangelical Mission in Bolivia and Peru. Eric served on their New Zealand council. He faithfully supported these missions in prayer and attended BMF at Caversham Baptist Church for as long as his health permitted. He was also a generous donor to Carey Baptist College.

Eric reached the milestone age of 100 shortly before his death in May 2019.

Internationals We know of nothing that is more difficult to relate to Christian faith than nationalism as we know it. The Christian faith is International. “We are ministers of One who is a foreigner nowhere,” cried Père Hyacinthe. Jesus Himself was an Eastern Jew after the flesh. Paul's battle cry was, “Christ broke down the middle walls of partition. In Christ is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman.” Moreover, earlier than the Gospel is the Old Testament, teaching of the essential unity of humanity. This teaching has a scientific basis. The differences of tongue and colour are superficial. We are one race. Mankind is man-kinned. National differences, as one mystical and perhaps typical Old Testament narrative suggests, are due to sin. It must be admitted that it is a difficult thing to harmonise intense and exclusive nationalism with the Faith we profess. But this is the sort of nationalism that is popular. It breeds war as carrion breeds maggots. We are already sick with the tokens of it in our land... The Christian Church will have to intervene. It has no part and no lot in an exclusive nationalism that battens on the depreciation of the foreigner. If ever there was a time when we ought to appreciate the foreigner it is now.

Baptist Magazine, August 1919 (abridged)

Obituary: Jim Patrick

v.135 no.4 † toru tekau mā tahi 31

Gospel Perspective/lightstock.com

In Memoriam

Directory 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Inter-church Trade & Industry Mission (ITIM) trading as Workplace Support is celebrating its 50th Anniversary next year!

LEAD PASTOR

NATIONAL DIRECTOR

We are a young and growing church of 300 people seeking to be authentic Christians in our community in Hamilton.

We are looking for a lead pastor who will strategically equip and encourage us to a new level of growth.

OMF NZ is seeking a new National Director. They will need a passion for mission, a sense of God’s prompting and the appropriate gifts and experience to lead the NZ team.

CONTACT DENNIS LONG AT applicants4northgatecc@gmail.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL marianjw2@gmail.com

50TH ANNIVERSARY

MESSY CHURCH NATIONAL CONFERENCES 2020

We invite former staff and board members to join us for a celebration service and afternoon tea in Christchurch on Saturday 14th March 2020.

Have you been involved in our mission over the years?

Come join us as we pause in grateful recognition. There will be opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, share stories and worship God together.

PLEASE REGISTER YOUR INTEREST AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AND WE CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH MORE DETAILS 0800 443 445 admin@workplacesupport.co.nz

ROTORUA FEBRUARY 14 & 15 CHRISTCHURCH FEBRUARY 21 & 22

Glenfield Baptist Church cordially invites all former members, attendees and interested parties to join us on the weekend of October 5th and 6th to celebrate 50 years sharing and being Jesus in Bayview, Glenfield, and throughout the world.

For those considering Messy Church and those seeking encouragement and ideas for their Messy Church.

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST WITH carrole@messychurch.nz

Programme & registration details to come

EVENTS INCLUDE:

GAY & CHRISTIAN

• Saturday meet and greet (reminisce) time.

YOUNG ADULTS CAMPS

• Saturday night catered meal ($42).

PONSONBY BAPTIST

Gay & Christian support & discussion group monthly meetings 027 279 4461 office@ponsonbybaptist.org.nz

• Former pastors preaching.

• Sunday lunch following morning celebration service (koha).

PLEASE RSVP YOUR ATTENDANCE TO ANY OR ALL OF THE EVENTS

BY EMAILING gbc50th@gbchurch.org.nz

ponsonbybaptist.org.nz/gay-andchristian-information

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OR FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT ANITA 027 357 0250

HAUORATANGA

6 - 8 September, CYC Ngāruawāhia REGISTER AT northernbaptist.org.nz

RECONCILIATION

30 August - 1 September, Foxton REGISTER AT imagineconference.co.nz

Glo bal Mis si on Photo of the month In our corner of South East Asia, believers and non-believers alike are hearing the gospel in their own language thanks to the work of our Tranzsend team there.

Turn to page 38 to read about how lives have been changed.

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

v.135 no.4 † toru tekau mā toru 33

A word from Andrew TOGETHER WE ARE STRONG E hara taku toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini.

My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective.

I love volunteers! NZBMS has been blessed with people who serve in significant ways. Actually, ‘people’ is not quite the right word. Maybe a better word would be ‘heroes’? I am thinking of people like Janet and Rob, Rebecca and Sally, Murray and John (AKA Stampman 2.0), Susan (how would we have survived over these last couple of years without her servant heart?), our Mission Council members, some special intercessors—you know who you are! There have been many others in the past, and there will be more in the future.

I love volunteers—when people gift us their time, skills and passion, they make such a difference to our work. So much of what we do is possible only because of these people.

I love volunteers—not just for what they do, but also for who they are. Some of these people are regularly in our office. When that happens, it is not just their output we receive but their input also. Input as varied as baking for the food table, cringeworthy dad jokes to lighten the mood, and a quiet word of wisdom in a God‑appointed moment.

I love volunteers—because they are representative of the many people around our nation, and overseas, who give their time and their prayers for the sake of the work our Father has called us to. It is because of their collective strength that we are able to serve as we do.

And so, to the one who prays for us in the quietness of their home, to the one who keeps God’s world before their church, to the one who advocates for the broken and lost, to the one who sacrificially sets aside income for the sake of the gospel, we say thank you, thank you, thank you. May our Father continue to strengthen us as we work together for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Ngā mihi nui Andrew Page Acting General Director

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We coul do it on This edition, we want to take time to honour some of the many NZBMS associates who use their skills and time, often with little or no recompense, to ensure our work continues to transform lives within the nations we operate in.

Our hope is that reading about these people will encourage you to pray for the roles they are involved in, and maybe even inspire you to become involved.

LESLEY

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

Prayer Warrior I coordinate both our local BMF group and other BMF groups throughout Central Districts. I’m also a pray‑er and financial supporter of NZBMS and mission in general.

God has taught me to love being involved in this work, especially supporting overseas workers, but it wasn’t always like that. As a young mother I heard my first ‘real live missionary speaker’ at a Dunedin Baptist Assembly—it was life-changing. I returned home, signed up to be a BMF supporter and grabbed hold of every available opportunity to go and hear more mission speakers. Some years later, my husband Alan and I served in PNG for a year’s assignment; then in 2013-2014 I had the honour of serving as national BMF president. As a preparation for that role we toured the New Zealand Baptist mission fields, which challenged me to become more deeply involved in prayer support.

Now, as a 78-year-old widow, I pray that as long as I have breath, our heavenly Father will allow me to be one of his Baptist mission intercessors.

Lesley’s home church is Whanganui Central Baptist.

R E A C H I N G

T H E

W O R L D

N O I S S I M

TRIVIA

es tage do n e c r e n tp By wha rld’s populatio o ar? the w ach ye 6 3 grow e age Answe

r on p

JANET

Pastoral Care My pastoral care role entails attending to the well-being of mission personnel. I do this by establishing teams of resource people, made up of whānau, supervisors, counsellors and pastoral people, to practically support and resource our field personnel. We love, pray and talk with these mission people through the highs and lows of life.

During home assignments we resource, debrief and eat together. When visiting staff abroad, I love to connect with them, encouraging them to engage with the many ways God and people are relating to them.

Prayer for the pastoral care of our personnel is vital. Pray for ‘tell it like it is’ conversations and for resources to meet the challenges, and for courage to keep growing so that God’s love is encountered more and more.

Gay’s home church is Tauranga Central Baptist.

-

Medical Oversight My role involves reviewing the medical assessments of people who are considering overseas work with Tranzsend. The aim is to ensure they are fit for the challenges of working in these contexts. I oversee the self-assessments and medicals of current Tranzsend personnel, ensuring any medical input they require is prioritised while on home assignment. NZBMS staff can also contact me via email for general medical advice.

My motivation is the courage and commitment of our NZBMS personnel, who I feel privileged to support. I have training and some experience overseas visiting Tranzsend staff. This means I understand something of the contexts they work in.

In regards to prayer, my greatest need in this role is to grow in my knowledge of our Tranzsend partners and their contexts.

Janet’s home church is Royal Oak Baptist.

ANDREW

R E B E C C A & S A L LY

Student Sponsorship Rebecca: My role is to communicate with sponsors and Isaac, our Bangladesh contact. I also write the regular newsletter to sponsors.

Sally: Three times a year I pass on letters from the children to their sponsors and vice versa.

Rebecca: This is a role God led me into. I remember thinking several years ago, “I’d like to do that job.” Then, a year ago, it was offered to me. I can do it around my study and job, and appreciate being able to focus on this as a way of serving God outside work. Both Sally and I have seen how good it is to equip and strengthen children from poor Christian families.

Our current needs are making the decision on whether to take on more students, and how to continue the programme with the ever‑present financial constraints. Please pray for Isaac who coordinates the work in Bangladesh, and that sponsored children will come to know God personally and be encouraged in their life journey.

Rebecca and Sally attend South West Baptist.

G AY

ldn’t our own!

N Z B M S

Chair of Mission Council The role of the chairperson is to guide our Mission Council meetings and work with the general director to ensure NZBMS achieves all God has asked us to do.

That means lots of meetings and prayerful discussion.

Over the past year it has involved working through the future direction of Freeset.

I believe in the work of NZBMS, so I’m glad to support it in this way. I love helping others achieve their dreams and fulfilling what God has asked them to do.

In my role, my greatest need is for wisdom, patience and courage. Wisdom to make the right decisions.

Patience when dealing with people and differing dreams. Courage to do or say the truth when required.

Andrew’s home church is Wellington Central Baptist.

If you would like to be involved in supporting NZBMS in some way, email info@nzbms.co.nz

v.135 no.4 † toru tekau mā rima 35

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

Each edition, in this column, a member of Mission Council reflects on one of the themes surrounding Prayer and Self Denial 2019. This month Edmonds Namburi, who has just concluded his time as a Mission Council member, reflects on “Finding Strength in the Power of Prayer.”

Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at his disposition, and listening to his voice in the depth of our hearts. – Mother Teresa Someone said, “If you want to learn about windows, you will do well by looking at them. However, when you look at a window, you not only see that window, you see through that window.”

I believe the same can be said of prayer—it’s what you see through prayer that really matters.

Exodus chapter 32-33 tells a story about Moses. He was on Mount Sinai for such a long time that those waiting became restless and fell into the sin of idolatry. Meanwhile, as we learn from Exodus 32:11-14, Moses is standing in the presence of the holy God as a transformed man who even dares to challenge God. You will never experience the urgency of intercession unless you notice sin from God’s perspective.

God delights in such an appetite for being in his presence.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace...” (NASB). God bestows a strange supremacy when you take a stance in fervent prayers. We see this in Moses’ story, as his prayer is transformed into an astronomical setting and Moses stands face-to-face with God. We must learn from Moses, who discovered such strength only in the authority of prayer. Strange words came out of his mouth, caught in the gales of the Spirit, his hunger to see God’s glory increased and he yearned for the strength prayer brings.

He loved his people, but love for his God was greater. So much so, that when he came down from Mount Sinai, his face was radiant because the power of prayer had lifted him to a new level.

This is the strength that comes from the power of prayer. It is intoxicating to stand in the presence of the holy God. It is up to us how we much we yearn the power of prayer so our strength can be renewed and his glory reflected through us.

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MISSION

TRIVIA ANSWE R

The w populati orld’s o about 1.1 n grows by 8% per y ea r (currentl y ab million p out 83 eople)

N Z B M S

-

R E A C H I N G

T H E

W O R L D

CELEBRATING THE NEVER-ENDING GOOD NEWS In June I had the privilege of representing New Zealand Baptists at the celebrations of 70 years of Baptist work in Papua New Guinea. Those 70 years have been a time of enormous change as PNG’s many tribes and people have worked to become a nation. It is many years since NZBMS had staff there, but I have been visiting over the last eight years as Banzaid has worked with the PNG Baptist Union to help coffee growers in the highlands area.

This latest visit started with an unexpected opportunity. Having been offered a spare seat on an afternoon flight to Telefomin, I jumped at the chance to join special celebrations there. Telefomin, the centre for the Min tribe, is accessible only by air, and takes over an hour in the MAF Cessna. The highlight of my two days there was the presence of the Smith family—Australians who, for 15 years during the 1960s and 1970s, had been based in Telefomin. They were warmly welcomed by the 600 people gathered for the celebrations and had some amazing stories to tell.

I travelled back to Baiyer Valley on Friday evening, to stay in one of the old staff houses with former Australian Baptist Missionary Society staff also there for the 70th anniversary celebration. Despite pouring rain, the event went ahead. On Saturday more than 150 pastors assembled at the local school before marching down the road in the rain to stand in front of the open-air stage. There were songs, greetings and stories, and recognition of past missionaries, including those from New Zealand. The highlight was the presentation of a revised translation of the Enga Bible. There was special recognition of Rob and Win Thomson from Whanganui, who had been involved in the original translation. The comment about Rob was that, “he must have been born of an Enga woman.”

Sunday arrived clear and warm. We assembled again on the field for a communion service. Different groups were called to the front for prayer: pastors, community workers, women, students, business people and children. I was privileged to be asked to pray for the bread, and to be one of those serving the communion.

It was a great occasion—recognition of what has been achieved, and a prayer for God’s rich blessing for the years ahead.

Story: Paul Thompson, Banzaid Manager about the work of Banzaid at banzaid.org.nz

R E A D M O R E

v.135 no.4 † toru tekau mā whitu 37

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

Leaving a Legacy Susan Osborne reflects on events from days gone by.

Sounds of Joy A few years back Cadbury chocolate ran an ad campaign called, “What does joy sound like?”

New Zealanders were asked what sounds made them think of joy. These sounds were then incorporated into a creative TV advertisement. In our little part of South East Asia we recently launched our very own “What does joy sound like?” campaign.

Where we live, two languages are used—I call these the head language and the heart language. The head language is taught in school; it is the official language spoken throughout the country. The heart language is the street language; it is used between friends at a café and at the markets. We have discovered that, for believers, joy sounds like the word of God spoken in their own heart language. Using their heart language draws them closer to the Father and enables them to relate to the faith in a way head language never will.

Unfortunately, there are few Christian resources available in this heart language. To begin to rectify this, we took a daily devotional book, written in head language by our previous colleague Lynley Capon, and recorded all 365 daily readings using heart language.

We have now begun to distribute these recordings using small MP3 players with the recordings loaded on them for listening at home or in the fields. Meanwhile, for those with smartphones, we are distributing the recordings using a popular messaging app. People who subscribe to this service receive a recording each day on their smartphone.

Already we have had some encouraging feedback.

We visited a woman whose husband does not attend church, yet he has been listening to the recordings each day. Another woman, who is not yet a believer, was listening to the programme each day and asked for a Bible. It’s an exciting beginning that we hope will grow and provide everyone with the chance to experience these sounds of joy for themselves.

If you would like to contribute to the financial cost of distributing these sound recordings, please email the NZBMS office at info@nzbms.co.nz.

From Andrew and Ro, NZBMS, South East Asia. about the work of Tranzsend at tranzsend.org.nz

R E A D M O R E

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Dr Nirmal Ghosh, Dr Muana and Mahendra Adhikhari are names most readers will never have heard of but they each made a significant contribution to the work of NZBMS and to the growth of the Kingdom.

In the same way, as various New Zealanders work in the background (and sometimes foreground) of our mission overseas, so do locals from the nations we work in. It’s important to acknowledge and honour these people—key local workers who are formal members of neither the mission nor a New Zealand Baptist church.

Currently we have two locals leading MPIL businesses, and a couple leading one of our teams in South Asia.

Working with key locals, and having folk from other countries as part of our local teams, is not new. In the first 20 years of NZBMS, two British (BMS) couples—Rev and Mrs de St Dalmas, and Mr and Mrs la Barte—and a single man, George Hughes, served with us.

National workers have always provided invaluable support in the development of the mission’s work; without them, our aims and goals could not be fulfilled. That’s where those three names mentioned earlier fit into our story.

Dr Nirmal Ghosh worked alongside Dr Charles North in the Chandpur Hospital and in Argatala; Dr Muana worked alongside Dr Lawrence Sanson; Mahendra Adhikhari worked with B.N. Eade as editor in the Christian Literature Centre. It was under his leadership that the CLC developed into the major Christian publishing house in Bangladesh.

The families of our key national workers have also gone on to make a significant contribution to the work in Bangladesh. Dinesh Halder, who led the Brahmanbaria work for many years (and married one of our New Zealand staff), was the son of a mission preacher. And Mahendra Adhikhari’s daughter, Judith Milita Das, lectured at the College of Christian Theology, Bangladesh, for over 20 years and became the first women ordained for ministry in the Bangladesh Baptist Churches.

Currently she pastors a large church in Dhaka.

Today we continue to invest in local leadership in all our areas of work. Pray for these key people as we seek to extend the Kingdom of God.

N Z B M S

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R E A C H I N G

T H E

W O R L D

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.

PEOPLE WITH PASSION

QUALITY MANAGER IN PNG

SCHOOL EXECUTIVE/ MANAGEMENT

Serving with Tranzsend.

Serving with MAF.

Serving with WEC.

Woven Life Foundation, in South East Asia, partners with local churches to transform communities.

Opportunities exist for people with skills in teaching English, working with children or youth, mentoring small businesses, and more...

Short- or long‑term.

To ensure we meet all quality standards in accordance with global regulations in our aviation ministry. A great opportunity to work alongside the international quality team and Country Director. You’ll be responsible for maintaining the Quality Management System (QMS).

In West Africa leading a school for children of missionaries, enabling their parents to work where there is no western education. As Director you’ll provide leadership and oversight for 30+ international staff and 20+ Senegalese staff working in cooperation with WEC’s Senegal branch. Minimum of three years.

For more, email: andrew.page@tranzsend.org.nz

For more, email: info@maf.org.nz

Apply online at: wecnz.org/job/school-director-urgent

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