Baptist Magazine v136 n1

Baptist Churches of New Zealand

baptistmag.org.nz

A Cord of three strands “That’s just the way we do things!”

Ngā Pou Amorangi

2018 Census data

TRANSFORM20 † CAPTURED BY A DREAM

| F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 2 0 | v. 1 3 6 n o . 1 |

ONLINE Recently added IN THE FACE OF BUSH FIRE A former Carey graduate, now an Anglican priest in Victoria, writes of her experience ministering through disaster during the recent Australian bushfires.

EDITOR Linda Grigg linda@baptistmag.org.nz GLOBAL MISSION EDITOR Greg Knowles GRAPHIC DESIGNER Rebecca McLeay & Marelize Bester PRODUCTION MANAGER Kathryn Heslop

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YOUR STORY COUNTS Why writing your life story can be revealing, even to yourself.

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CONTENT 04 A word from the editor We have a lot to be excited about and celebrate in this issue of the Baptist magazine. Whether it is Carterton Baptist Church’s innovative and collaborative project to help ‘at-risk’ young people get on their feet (see page 14), or the success of Māori students at Carey (page 8) and of the Ngā Pou Amorangi programme there (page 18), or the recent ‘birthday’ at a South Asian freedom business (page 37), we have a lot to thank God for!

There are some sobering moments too, though, and a few related challenges. Lynne Taylor tells us that the Census 2018 results confirm we now live in a country where less than half the population consider themselves as Christian. But rather than see this as a problem needing a solution, she challenges us to see this new reality in a different light—one that could open up new possibilities and ways to engage in the mission of God. See her article on page 22.

Another challenge comes from Heather Roberts, co-founder of Just Kai. Did you know that some of the food we consume here in New Zealand is produced by slaves? Not possible? Read her profile on page 28 and learn more about what Just Kai does and how you can find out whether your fish, cocoa or sugar is from companies with slave-free supply chains. You might want to check it out before you buy your sweetheart those Valentine’s Day chocolates!

Regular readers of this publication may note a new column called ‘Healthy Resources’. Each issue we will have a guest writer address topics that those working in governance and administration roles in particular will find helpful. In this issue, Mike Crudge of the Carey Centre for Lifelong Learning shares some tips for strengthening eldership teams. He also introduces a long-awaited new resource for elders. Make sure the eldership team in your church sees page 27!

Don’t forget to keep sending through your stories and story ideas. Send me an email or use the submit function on our website.

~ Blessings to you Linda Grigg

06 14

REFLECTIONS FROM CHARLES HEWLETT

“That’s just the way we do things!”

OUR STORIES

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Cord of three strands Ngā Pou Amorangi 2018 Census data Transform20

27 28 29 3o 31 33

HEALTHY RESOURCES

5 ways to strengthen your eldership team

PROFILE

Meet... Heather Roberts

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

Boundaries—do they inhibit or create freedom?

COMMUNIQUÉ

DIRECTORY

GLOBAL MISSION

Captured by a dream Stories We’re in this together Opportunities to serve

Baptist / R E F L E C T I O N S F R O M C H A R L E S H E W L E T T

“ That’s just the

waythings!” we do

Chalermphon/lightstock.com

Reflecting on Baptist culture

What do we want Baptist churches in New Zealand to be known for? If you had to describe the culture of the faith community you are part of, what would you say? How would others describe us? Charles Hewlett shares six characteristics he hopes we might be known for.

1

Jesus-focused I know I’m like a stuck record, but Baptists must primarily be known as people who have their eyes firmly fixed on Jesus. When determining our priorities, we immediately look to him. When unsure what to think and how to act, we begin with his Word. When wanting to bring renewal, we start with the power of his gospel. And when wondering how to treat our neighbours, we look to his life.

We have been called to be the church in a country that mostly rejects the Christian message. The idea of a metanarrative or overarching faith story is often viewed as ignorant, arrogant and oppressive. But Baptists must be countercultural and recognised as people who love Jesus and are quick to reference the Bible as we graciously work to restore all that is broken.

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2

Thankful Let’s be a movement of churches marked out by appreciation and thankfulness. Rather than being negative, critical and grumpy, let’s be known for our enthusiasm and positivity. Think about your own conversations, social media posts, sermons, etc. What sort of culture are you helping to create? Philippians 4:8 is an important verse: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (NLT).

I was deeply challenged by a Facebook post a friend of mine made last year in the middle of her cancer treatment.

Fiona wrote, “Something I’m learning is that when you don’t feel ‘alive’ most of the time, you can still choose to find and celebrate the things that bring you joy. Today I felt gross

When people spend time with us, how do we influence them? W hat do they go away thinking? but sat by the beach with a friend, and enjoyed the feeling of the wind on my face, looking at the beautiful ocean and enjoying my friend’s company. Tonight it’s listening to the ocean and hearing the birds and feeling the sun on my face. It’s so good to keep on finding things to feel hopeful and alive!”

3

Innovative When people think ‘Baptist’ I would like them to think of words like creativity, imagination and improvement.

That our faith communities are known as safe places for risk‑taking and doing things in different ways. Where people are empowered to think outside the box—to avoid stagnation and sameness.

I talked recently about Northland and Central Otago being two regions where I believe Baptists could bring renewal over the next decade. An innovative culture will unleash and empower its pioneering leaders to dream and achieve new ideas for ministry and mission. A cautious culture is often focused too much on the here and now, scared to engage with the future and all the complex issues it brings.

4

Audacious I hope that we can be known as a movement that expects God to do amazing things and therefore it is the norm for us to approach him with our crazy expectations.

What is the shamelessly audacious gospel prayer (Luke 11:5-8) that you are currently praying? Does your church have one? Your leadership team? Your family?

How many new followers of Jesus are you asking for in 2020? Baptisms? Where do you want to see redemption, reconciliation and healing in your community? Do you even have expectations? Do you talk together about these things?

The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). If our God can work miraculously in the lives of people like Abraham and Sarah, Esther, Daniel, Hannah and Elizabeth in the past, then he can work in people like me and you today.

5

Contagious I have always been challenged by the story in Luke 5 when Jesus calls his first disciples. After being with Jesus for just a few moments we find Peter on his knees worshipping God and giving up everything to follow him.

Talk about being contagious!

When people spend time with us, how do we influence them? What do they go away thinking? “Wow, what a great house!” or “Wow, what a great God!” Do they say, “We must plan a better holiday next year” or “We need to get home and fall in love with the scriptures again.” Do they say, “We need to work on our superannuation plan” or “We’ve got to start actively serving in our neighbourhood.”

It’s my prayer that Baptists would have a culture that naturally points people to Jesus. When people visit our faith communities and spend time with us, may they go home saying, “God is great and I want to love and serve him more than ever!”

6

Giving up our rights I pray that New Zealand Baptists would be known for their willingness to give up their rights for the rights of others. We can so easily get this one wrong. “I’m happy to serve, as long as I get noticed” or “If I’m not the leader, well don’t expect me to be involved” or “If it’s not done my way, don’t expect my financial support.” Jesus tells his followers, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44, NIV).

The culture in God’s Kingdom is marked out by loving service and not having to dominate. It is about putting others first and being prepared to give up our own status.

Kingdom culture is not having to retaliate, paying back evil with evil. It is about being prepared to take second place and give up my rights for those of another. May this be our norm.

It is my prayer that it is the norm for Baptist faith communities and people to be marked out by being Jesus‑focused, thankful, innovative, audacious, contagious, and being prepared to give up their rights for others. “That’s just the way we do things.”

Contributor: 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.”

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

v.136 no.1 † rima 05

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

Our Stories Nativity, front and centre Ashburton Baptist Church has taken part in our local Christmas parade for the past 12 years. Heather Harrison-Lee has done a fantastic job over that time, making and organising all the costumes and participants. This year we decided to take it up a notch and create a float on a truck, kindly offered by Rural Transport, transforming it into a fabulous donkey carrying a nativity scene. It all started with a crazy idea and a bunch of creative people who saw the project through. Our goal was to share the true meaning of Christmas in a memorable way and we were delighted with the outcome.

We’re already dreaming up new ideas for our next Christmas parade!

Contributor: Delia Fox

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Orewa Baptist celebrates

new facilities

On 19th to 20th October 2019, Orewa Baptist Church held its ‘Dedication and Celebration Weekend’ at their renovated facilities located at 2-8 Loop Rd, Orewa.

The weekend kicked off with a dawn ceremony led by Matua Hakiaha, along with Baptist representatives David Moko and Winston Hema and family. Orewa Baptist members walked through the new building, singing, praying and giving thanks to God for his many blessings, including the newly constructed facility. Later in the afternoon, the church saw a significant number of people arrive on site for building tours.

The following day, people packed into the church’s new 400-seat auditorium for Orewa Baptist’s celebration service.

Past and present members, former pastoral staff and many others lifted a unified voice, praising God for the rich history of the church.

A portion of the service included an interview panel of founding members and an intergenerational mix of current members. Those attending the service heard about the

church’s origins and the exciting things that took place 40 years prior. It was also great to hear testimonies from those significantly impacted by the church more recently, and to hear conversation about what excites the panel members most about how God will use Orewa Baptist in the future. The segment demonstrated God bringing about his own purposes and using different individuals throughout various periods to participate in what he was doing.

Orewa Baptist is truly grateful for those who were obedient to the Spirit’s leading and for everyone who served so brilliantly in the past. It is a great privilege to continue the work that started decades ago. The new facilities are indeed a blessing and are cause for great celebration.

However, the church knows that the building is simply an instrument for God to use to make himself known and accomplish his purposes in the surrounding community.

Contributor: Mark Poole Pastor, Orewa Baptist Church

Christian Savings was delighted to have the opportunity to support Orewa Baptist Church through this new build. If your church has a project on the horizon, contact us to see if we can help. Phone 0508 (SAVINGS) 728 464 or email office@christiansavings.co.nz.

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

Come and see In our weekly chapel services at Carey we’ve been focusing on the invitation in Scripture to ‘come and see’. Often in Scripture we’re invited to “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals” (Psalm 66:5).

In November last year Māori students, along with their whānau, Carey staff and the Manatū Iriiri Māori strategic team, came together to see and celebrate what God is doing among Māori at our theological college. God has been doing something amazing:

integrative approach to theological enquiry, these students will be producing research that will make a very real gospel difference in the communities they serve.

It has been very exciting to watch the development of Ngā Pou Amorangi, a Māori leadership programme designed to equip Christians for gospel service in te ao Māori and bicultural contexts.

Perhaps the greatest highlight at November’s Māori Achievement Dinner was to hear Māori students

• In 2019 the number of Māori enrolling at Carey increased significantly, reaching the highest level on record.

say that Carey has become a safe

• These Māori students achieved a 100% pass rate in semester one, with a 96% pass rate for the year, an extraordinary result in a tertiary context.

entire college.

• The quality of their work has also been outstanding, with Māori students achieving A grades in 36% of their assignments.

Eritrean—that we grasp how wide

• In 2020 we expect to have 10 or more Māori students in our postgraduate programme, with our first Māori doctoral student. With Carey’s

what God has done, and is doing,

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place for Māori to learn and grow in their faith. Their growth at Carey has deeply enriched the As the Bible says, it is “together with all the Lord’s holy people”— Jew, Gentile, Māori, Pākehā, Chinese, Samoan, Burmese, and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:18).

Is the Lord nudging you towards theological study? Come and see at Carey!

Contributor: John Tucker Principal, Carey

skeeze/ pixabay.com

Australian bushfire relief A number of New Zealand Baptist churches and individuals have asked whether the Baptist National Centre is coordinating donations to aid our Australian friends in response to the devastating bush fires there. We recommend you do this directly by credit card via the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT website https://nswactbaptists.org. au/bushfire-relief-and-recovery.

Donations made to their Disaster Relief and Recovery Campaign will support fire victims, the work of local churches in affected communities,

and partnership programmes that complement the work aid organisations are doing on the ground. In addition to the donation portal, the website has prayer guides and you can sign up for updates about the campaign.

Please note that credit card donations will be made in Australian dollars at the applicable international exchange rate on the day and will probably incur associated exchange fees from your bank. However, this is still likely to be cheaper than the direct debit option, which incurs fees

for both the payer and the payee; check with your bank re current fees.

Also note that the donations will not be eligible for tax deductions for tax paid in New Zealand.

Jude Benton, a former Carey student and now an Anglican priest in Victoria, has written about what it has been like ministering through this natural disaster. You can read her account in the ‘Our Stories’ section of our website www.baptistmag. org.nz. She also suggests several ways we can help those affected by the fires.

Special One Year Term Deposit Rate of 3% p.a. for a limited time.

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Call us today to find out more.

0508 (SAVING) 728 464 info@christiansavings.co.nz www.christiansavings.co.nz A copy of our Product Disclosure Statement is available from our website. Deposits are issued by Christian Savings Limited.

Minimum investment amount of $1,000.

Small Fries Windsor Park Christian Childcare Centre, Auckland

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

Blue Christmas The shortest day of the Northern Hemisphere’s calendar is the 21st of December. On this day, many who are not ‘merry and bright’ gather and seek solace in Christ, Scripture and the company of others who mourn. This is Blue Christmas—a service that puts aside noise and bright garlands and asks the questions of lament: “Where is God in my grief? Where is God in this brokenness?”

Blockhouse Bay Baptist Church has held four of these services now, not strictly on the 21st but before Christmas and definitely blue. For the church it is a chance to acknowledge grief, sadness and pain that many face throughout the year. Many who come are facing the first Christmas without a loved one, while others mourn the loss

of relationship(s), health and broken or fractured dreams.

This small service is quieter, slower and offers no band‑aids or easy answers. Instead it acknowledges hurt and gives space for tears. It allows for people to name their grief and ask God to meet them in that space and be who he promises to be: “the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

We light candles and smooth off rough wood with sandpaper, asking that God will be at work making something beautiful out of us in that pain of change. Through hearing and action, liturgy and prayer, we draw attention to the further promises of God who is with us and for us. We find

rest in the promise of the Shepherd God (Psalm 23, John 10:11-18), the words of the prophets, and in the glorious final picture of heaven where tears will finally be ceased.

While nothing of the pain or loss that drew people to our chapel that night has been undone, what has been made known is this: that lament, anger and grief do not discount or distance us from God who is ever faithful. That God, who himself is no stranger to pain and grief, hears the offerings of our hearts. Finally, that there is community to support and guide as people walk hard journeys.

Contributor: Shelley West Community Pastor Blockhouse Bay Baptist Church

Thinking about

study

this year

Whether you are in church ministry, mission, volunteering or want to go deeper into the Bible…

Discover Carey.

Join a passionate community seeking deeper learning, intentional engagement in God’s mission, and to be faithful followers of Jesus. Applications open now for semester one.

10 tekau † v.136 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

0800 773 776

carey.ac.nz

Round the Table At the end of 2018, Windsor Park Baptist Church gathered our Young Adults (YAs) together to pick their brains about what they wanted as a community going forward. We had an array of awesome ideas come in, however the one that really stuck out was facilitated evenings where they could unpack topical issues in a safe space together. With this being one of the most reoccurring responses that we received, we decided to start Round the Table events the following May. Round the Table events are about providing a space where our YAs can engage in healthy faith-based conversations around topics that we generally don’t address as much (or at all) in the church. We aim to host one event per ‘season’. Our very first event unpacked the topic of ‘Why Do Bad Things Happen?’ Our second saw us chat about ‘Relating, Dating & Mating’, and our most recent night was dedicated to understanding ‘Mental Well-being’.

For each event, we have a panel of people come in and share their experiences and wisdom around these topics. We then try to create room for conversation around the tables to allow people to process, reflect and converse with one another. We understand that we are not going to cover everything, but we want to start having the conversations.

The beautiful thing about our YA

Round the Table is that it creates

unanswered questions or for

a space where those who are

anyone who simply wants to keep

deeply yearning to find truth

researching and finding out more

and to form their views on God

about the topic. We love that

and the world can do just that,

through our Round the Table

without any judgement. Every

events, people have been able to

event involves some kind of

hear the stories, journeys and facts

food and time to socialise. After

that others have experienced or

our events, we email out some

learnt, sharing and growing with

resources that we believe may

one another! To find out more email

be helpful for those who have

ethan.miller@windsorpark.org.nz.



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

Christian Savings Your long-term partners

T

his year Christian Savings (previously Baptist Savings and Development Society) is celebrating 58 years of partnering with churches. It has been inspiring for us to see many churches rise to meet the changing needs of their congregations and wider community over that time, while building spaces to last and positively impact generations. Our unique mission and privilege is to support this work, and our depositors partnering with us have the opportunity to grow their savings while literally building the church.

From seats to social housing Our first loan in 1962 had the modest goal of helping a church to purchase pews. Today Christian Savings manages over $130 million in lending to more than 200 churches across Aotearoa New Zealand, including multimillion dollar construction projects.

Thanks to our investors, this past financial year we have been able to support Baptist churches and organisations with over $10 million in lending. These projects include important renovations to Darfield Baptist Church facilities, enabling Rangiora Baptist Church to buy an additional property to further ministry expansion, a new fit-out for Greymouth West Coast Baptist Church’s commercial

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building to generate more income for their church, and a community housing build for Bays Community Housing Trust.1 Loans to non-Baptist entities included one that helped Wellington City Mission purchase a new home.

Turning deposits into donations In 2017 we launched our Charitable Deposits product, initially as an option for congregations to invest and help their church pay off a mortgage. This has grown to become an opportunity to earn a donation for an eligible charity (or your church) by investing your savings.

We currently have more than $1.6 million invested in Charitable Deposits. It has been wonderful to see the generosity of our depositors as more people decide to

donate the interest they would have earned to support their church or nominated charity, such as Elevate Christian Disability Trust (pictured). Thanks to these depositors, donations were made to 19 charities and churches in 2019.

Growing God’s Kingdom with you Christian Savings has 12 full-time employees. This includes three new staff members we welcomed to our team in 2019: a registered legal executive, an administration support specialist and an executive assistant to the CEO. We were also pleased to welcome Steven Moe, a new director on our board. In this role, Steven is particularly focused on the future and thinking long term, even intergenerationally. What will the world look like after we’re gone? How can we be good stewards of what we have, as guardians for our children? What role can Christian Savings play in that for the church across New Zealand?

A church building isn’t just four walls with a roof, but represents limitless opportunities to share the gospel whether it be through a message or compassion, worship services, mainly music, counselling, youth groups, Alpha, interest groups, cafés, prayer meetings, groups for elderly or young families, after-school care, or even office space for local charities.

Many churches and charities have expressed interest in borrowing from us in 2020 and we greatly appreciate your support in helping us grow our capacity to build God’s Kingdom in Aotearoa New Zealand.

1. You can read about the Bays Community Housing Trust project on the Baptist magazine website https://baptistmag.org.nz/ more-than-a-roof-over-their-heads.

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Baptist / F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

A

C ORD

O F

three strands Leveraging strengths to achieve more

Sometimes small churches get overlooked, as if the number of people in a church is the all‑important measure. But even small churches’ reach and impact can be multiplied exponentially when they work in partnership with others. ‘The Village’ at Carterton Baptist Church is an example of this. Wayne Poutoa, Chris Dugdale and Andrew Procuta share the story of that project and the partnership behind it.

Wayne & Jennifer Poutoa— ‘The visionaries’ Our first Sunday service as copastors at Carterton Baptist Church had just ended. After everyone had

left for home, I locked the church doors. Sitting alone in the middle of the church, I started crying out to the Lord: “You’ve got to help me because I don’t know what I am doing here.

I don’t know what to do.”

We had come from a big church and all that I knew to do was what I had been taught, which was working with young people. But Carterton Baptist had a tiny congregation of mainly elderly members.

In a big church you walk in and everything is there. There is a worship department and a preaching department and whatever. But you come here and there is nothing. So you have to watch God provide and unpack. It’s exciting but it all happens at the 11th hour!

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What I have since learnt is that smaller churches can make an impact. It’s about not being entrenched in a mindset that says, “We are small; we can’t do great things.” We serve a God who is the Most High. If a boy’s lunch can feed 5,000 (John 6:9-13) then we should never believe that as a small church our contribution is insignificant. God makes it very significant.

The Village We were called to Carterton Baptist in October 2016, after serving at Hosanna Porirua. Our work in Porirua had been community‑focused, mostly with youth gangs and whānau at risk. I was running Youth Guarantee programmes and opening satellites

from New Plymouth to Invercargill.

Our life was full-on and great.

And then God said, “Come to Carterton.” And I thought, “You’re kidding.” But we came.

Working with youth and whānau is always about addressing practical needs first. We became aware that there are a number of ‘at-risk’ youth in Carterton—specifically young people who are unable to live with their families and who are struggling to adjust to the norms of local society.

‘The Village’ is our vision to meet that need.

Our plan is to house young people on church property, in individual accommodation. More than just short‑term housing, The Village is designed as a three-year mentoring programme with the goal of building young people’s self-esteem, growing their problem-solving skills, and developing a sense of responsibility that comes from living in a caring community.

There is a waiting list of more than 40 for this kind of programme, most of them referred by agencies, so the need for getting this up and running is great. However we lacked the finance to get the project off the ground and for this and other reasons, our plans stalled.

IT’S ABOUT NOT BEING ENTRENCHED IN A MINDSET T H AT S AY S , “WE ARE SMALL; WE CAN’T D O G R E AT T H I N G S .”

Warwick & Chris Dugdale— ‘The resourcers’ Warwick and I are members of Maungaraki Baptist Church, a small church in Lower Hutt. In 2011 he and I established the Dugdale Charitable Trust to build houses as fundraisers.

This led on to investing in small commercial properties to provide an annual surplus that could be donated.

We have supported charities such as Ronald McDonald House, Hospice and Life Flight, as well as projects where we could give of our time as well as funds. Our slogan is ‘Working Together to Make a Difference’. We are currently involved with building a school in Uganda and helping establish a new YWAM base in

Nelson. We believe that God has led us to these projects, often through a series of ‘God-incidences’.

This was how we came across ‘The Village’ project in Carterton. Through friends, we heard of a pastor who was planning to build a container village and were immediately curious to find out more. It was several months before we met Wayne but then God’s timing was perfect.

Our first meeting with Wayne and Jennifer was brief. A few weeks went by and then Wayne and Jennifer felt prompted by God to come and see us and explain everything that had happened up to that time. Wayne felt his vision for The Village was at an all-time low as they had no funds.

But he knew if God wanted it to go ahead, then God would have a solution. Warwick and I felt we were meant to help.

I’m a ‘let’s just do it’ kind of a person. I don’t have to have every little detail worked out before stepping out in faith. Wayne thinks in the same way and so after that meeting the four of us felt that ‘The Village’ would definitely go ahead.

Wayne and Jennifer are absolutely the right people to mentor those in need of help; their love for young people just burns in them but

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Baptist / F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

they lacked any building experience.

I have a passion for building projects, especially where it brings people and resources together to turn a vision into reality.

I did some research on Trade Me and came across cabins being built

by Andrew Procuta and his company called The Village Cottage. Andrew is a Christian and this along with the name of his company provided confirmation we were on the right track!

We paid for the first cabin and then others stepped forward. I approached businesses for supply or discounts for things like insulation, painting, carpet tiles and installation, smoke alarms and beds.

Four of the six cabins are now paid for and fundraising is continuing through a Givealittle page called ‘The Village at Carterton Baptist Church’ or by emailing Chris Dugdale at mbc4church@gmail.com.

This collaboration is about more than just buying some cabins.

No longer will the ‘you in your small corner and me in mine’ approach work. Churches burn themselves out trying to juggle the many different ministries that traditionally a church is expected to do. The Village at Carterton is an example of churches working together and sharing resources.

massage rooms, prayer rooms and hairdressing salons.

We’re doing five cabins with The Village—six including the supervisor’s cabin. You kind of think, “Well, is it worth it? There is such a big demand and we can only do five.” And then I remembered how Jesus talked about leaving the 99 to get the one.

I suppose that’s what it is about. If you can help five kids out of the 40 that are waiting, then that’s five who will have

Andrew & Sharon Procuta— ‘The builders’ I have been building these cabins for about five years and within that time have built almost 100 of them.

Because they are 10m2 or smaller, they don’t require council consent. They are typically used as a small bedroom or as baches, but also as artist studios, music rooms, home offices,

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an opportunity to change their lives.

And then from there it will just keep going. So we could see the benefit of it, not just from a Christian point of view, but from helping the young people out.

The whole way things have come together has been pretty cool. We are all quite different, from different walks of life, but we are joined together by our faith.



The Village programme at a glance The first year—‘baggage handling’— focuses on working through the physical and emotional damage the young people have experienced.

Issues of alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence or sexual abuse are handled, with the help of outside agencies.

In the second year, young people ‘set a destination’, exploring what moving forward looks like for them, and setting short-, mid- and long‑term goals. Each young person produces an individual life plan developed with the help of a life coach. During this time all residents are involved in education, courses or employment. They are also involved in community initiatives, as a way of contributing and giving back.

During the third and final year— ‘the departure lounge’—the young people firm up their goals and start to take steps to full independence and self-determination. There is an emphasis on interaction with whānau members with whom they

feel safe to share their victories as part of this initiative.

For more information about The Village, contact Wayne and Jennifer Poutoa at Carterton Baptist Ph 06 379 8675 or email cartertonbaptistchurch@gmail.com.

Baptist / F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

Nga Pou Amorangi A new learning community

Ngā Pou Amorangi (NPA) is a community of learners at Carey who are supporting each other

to

to serve humbly and competently within Māori and bicultural contexts, in order to make Jesus more fully known there. Some of the founding members of the NPA community reflect here on their involvement in NPA in its first year of operation in 2019.

T

he heartbeat of Ngā Pou Amorangi (NPA) can be found in the whakataukī, “Ko te amorangi ki mua, ko te hāpai ō ki muri.”

It refers to the pōwhiri process running well when the spiritual leaders are at the front and the workers behind.

The whakataukī recognises that the upfront leadership roles and the behind-the-scenes roles are equally important for the community to thrive. For NPA, learners will be found in the classroom and the kitchen as often as speaking at the front, as they learn how to organise and lead every aspect of pōwhiri (year one), wānanga and other hui Māori (year

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two) and community‑wide strategic development initiatives (year three).

The following stories suggest something of our diversity and unity as a learning community. We are young and old, speakers of te reo Māori and complete beginners, experienced in Christian ministry and novices, graduate students of theology and those just starting formal theological training. Each one has something to teach the community and learn from it.

We are united by our desire to serve in Māori and bicultural contexts in ways that will draw others to want to know God and give him all honour and glory.

Ngā Pou Amorangi—the details Ngā Pou Amorangi is a Māori leadership initiative designed to equip Christians to serve confidently in Māori contexts and beyond.

While new to Carey in 2019, NPA’s roots lie much further back in the work of Baptist Māori Ministries (now Manatū Iriiri Māori) and Te Whare Amorangi whose leaders are some of the foundational pou amorangi (spiritual leaders) for this learning community.

NPA is nestled within the wider Carey community, running alongside Carey’s formal NZQA programmes. In 2020, NPA can be taken as either a one-year certificate or a threeyear diploma.

Both require commitment to four wānanga per year and mentored ministry placement plus formal theological

education (minimum of one theological paper per semester towards an NZQA qualification). Auckland-based learners also commit to attending weekly hui and Carey chapel services. Each year, two NPA wānanga are opened to those outside of NPA to join us.

Applications to join the NPA learning community are invited from people of any ethnicity who feel called by God to serve within te ao Māori or a bicultural ministry context.

If you, or someone you know, would benefit from being a part of Ngā Pou Amorangi, please visit the college website (carey.ac.nz) for more information or contact the KaiārahiRangahau Māori at Carey sandy.kerr@carey.ac.nz.

Nau mai, haere mai ki Ngā Pou Amorangi 2020. 

Our whānau understand the Bible better—Kiwii Taranaki Kiwii is training full-time for pastoral leadership through NPA. In 2019 he was a first-year student in the three‑year Bachelor of Applied Theology at Carey and a full-time NPA trainee undertaking mentored ministry at Te Rongopai, a Baptist fellowship that meets at Puna o te Ora, Pukekohe.

When I first went into the Carey library, I thought, “Crikey, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to read all those books. Where do I start?” I thought I had to read them all. Now after one year, I’ve learnt a huge amount and I know I can pass the three years, but without Ngā Pou I don’t think I would have made it this far.

With Māori being here at Carey it has helped me feel settled. I can find comfort in learning even though I don’t have much schooling in my background. In class, while I’m trying to form a question, other Māori students just pop out the questions and it is things Māori that they ask, and I like the answers the lecturers give. Mission of God, Pastoral Care and Thinking Theology have really taught me a lot.

I like the Old and New Testament courses too because they’ve taught me how to exegete the Bible. I learned that

the Bible is not just one book. It’s more, so much more, and that’s what I’ve been telling the whānau now.

From NPA I’ve learned more te reo and understanding what’s happened to us Māori as a people. In my life I’ve blamed others but now I can’t do that anymore. I have to stand up and lead services, preach and also speak at tangihanga and I can do that. I’m prepared. My training has helped me to understand Scripture and use it properly, not just put anything in there. I am more confident to stand and do karakia, mihimihi and whaikōrero. Ngā Pou has helped me understand a lot about how to be pastors in a Māori context from a Māori lens. We’re able to express the Word of God to our whānau in a way where they understand it.

Having this education and sharing what I learn is helping our whānau understand the Bible better.

TA I N U I

Food for my soul—Val Goold Val is one of more than 60 people who attended one of the three NPA wānanga held during 2019.

One of the great joys of this year for me has been the opportunity to join in a few of the Ngā Pou Amorangi wānanga weekends. It is such a privilege to be able to soak in learning from people who have such mana and passion to share what God has taught them though life and communities.

It was inspiring to see a community of the hard-core

Ngā Pou Amorangi students embrace all the immersive learning and to be so willing to share what they are learning with all who were able to come. The character of this learning community is one of commitment, depth, grace and creativity—and it is food for my soul to be included as part of the wider Ngā Pou Amorangi whānau.

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Baptist / F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

Kōrero kia rere—Manaakinui Te Kahu Manaakinui was in his final year of the Bachelor of Applied Theology programme when he joined NPA. This year he starts a Masters of Applied Theology while completing two further years with Ngā Pou Amorangi.

Kia ora, ko Manaakinui James Te Kahu ahau, he uri ahau nō Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Ngāi Tahu. Ko ahau tetahi tauira o Ngā Pou Amorangi. Tihei mauri ora.

Ko Ngā Pou Amorangi ēnei e tuhi whakaiti nei. Anei mātou e tū ana kia whakanui te mahi o te Atua: hapaingia ki ngā hapori, manaakitia ki ngā tangata, tīkanga ki te whenua, whakaako ki ngā tīkanga o ngā tīpuna ka tū maia, ka tū mana hoki.

Ko tētahi tauira, ko te whaikōrero. I te timatanga o te tau I noho tahi mātou ki wānanga e pā ana ki ngā mea o te

whaikōrero, te karanga hoki. Ko te nuinga o mātou, he iti te puna matauranga, he iti te wheako hoki. Engari, i tū rangatira i o mātou pouako a matua Sam rāua ko Whaea Mate kia tohungia he huarahi pai ma mātou. I a mātou kaore i te paku mohio ki te tū ki te whaikōrero, ā, kua kū ngā kereru, kua rere ngā kupu ka whai i te kōrero. Poho kereru ana ahau ki te tūtaki ki ngā tane katoa! I tū ngā tane katoa ki te whaikōrero... mai i te hāhi iriiri! Ka mau te wehi! I puta mai te hā o tū me te hā rongo hoki! Ara, kua rere ngā mihi ki te whakanui te Atua.

Koira te mea nui ki ahau: kia whakanui te Atua i te ao Māori, me ōna tīkanga.

N G Ā P U H I , N G ĀT I PAO A , N G ĀT I K A H U N G U N U K I WA I R O A , N G Ā I TA H U A seed for indigenous theology—Wendy Emsley Wendy is a registered Baptist leader living in Rotorua. She attended NPA wānanga and through NPA was mentored by a kaumātua in her role as a hospital chaplain.

Ngā Pou Amorangi is like a seed from which an indigenous theology and way of doing and being ‘church’ can emerge as opposed to the pot plant that has often been transplanted into the whenua of Aotearoa.

NPA stimulates, challenges and confronts my understanding and experience of who God is to me. Being part of NPA has allowed me to explore and examine an expanding theology and its application in a safe space.

At a personal level, NPA has been an anchorage whilst I have been inhabiting a liminal type of space. During this

season, I have been asking some really big questions about who God is. I was able to belong and fit in with NPA and, at the same time, sit with and process these big questions without feeling like I was a heretic. In this transitional time I had also been experiencing some concerns about being Baptist. NPA has been able to hold me in a ‘Baptist space’ when, for a time, I wasn’t feeling particularly Baptist.

In this last year especially, NPA has been a spiritual lifeline for me. NPA for me is a puna wai ora, a place of revival and refreshment.

N G ĀT I R A U K AWA , N G ĀT I T O A R A N G AT I R A

The convergence of worlds—James and Natua Kaa-Morgan James and Natua are Carey graduates now working towards their Masters of Applied Theology. As tuakana (older siblings) to our undergraduate students, they were an integral part of NPA’s weekly hui in 2019.

E tautokohia ana ngā mihi kua mihia me ngā whakamiha kei tua o te arai. Ko James māua ko Natua Kaa‑Morgan tēnei. Tēnā tātou!

We are descendants of whale riders and war dogs, wayfarers on waka, voyagers sailing on stingray and karakia to bring many worlds together. Our eyes carry the night sky, our skin carries earth, our tongues carry incantations that still carve the Pacific Islands. We are the bounty that arrived on the shores of Hawaiki‑Tautau (Aotearoa). We are the prayers that were sown when our ancestors’ waka first encountered this land. We are the harvest of that which has been gestating in Te Pō long before us, and the gestation of those in Te Ao Mārama who await us. We stand in both worlds. We are tāngata whenua—the people of this land.

Ngā Pou Amorangi (NPA) is one of the few spaces whereby the Christian world and the Māori world, in all their ecosystems and existence, intentionally converge.

Be it through weekly meetings, quarterly wānanga, or daily interaction with one another, NPA invites the Māori world and the Christian world to develop a robust and true relationship with one another. It’s a space much like the ones our ancestors occupied, where we must navigate upon unknown seas for the sake of finding new territories that will provide a better life for many generations to come.

Although taniwhā come, karakia breaks forth. Although storms come, the journey endures. Although the night comes, the day is guaranteed. This is the nature of two worlds converging, and we stand in both worlds. We are tāngata whenua—the people of these lands.

TA I N U I & N G ĀT I W H A N A U N G A , N G ĀT I P Ū K E N G A

Baptist / F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

Yuriz/ www.canva.com

2018

CENSUS DATA The 2018 Census confirmed we now live in a country where less than half the population consider themselves to be Christian. Lynne Taylor says we can rail against that, or we can ask big questions about how we live as Christians and the church in this new context.

I

cannot imagine that many people were surprised by the recently released 2018 Census data on religious affiliation in New Zealand.

Christian religious affiliation has been trending down basically since it was first measured, but most notably from the 1960s when it first dropped below 90% (see Figure 1).

This decrease in the proportion of Christians is countered by a rise in those who state that they have no religion (48% in 2018). As expected, this is now significantly higher than

the proportion of those who state a Christian affiliation (37%). There has also been a slight increase in the number of people of other religions: Buddhists now represent 1.1% of NZ population; Hindu 2.6%; Islam 1.3%; Jewish 0.1%; Māori religions 1.3%; New Age 0.4%; Other 1.9%.

What about Baptist statistics?

In terms of the Baptist denomination, the decline in affiliation appears even more marked. Just 39,030 people indicated that they are Baptist, representing 0.8% of the total population (down from 1.3% in

2013) and 2.2% of all Christians (down from 3.0% in 2013). While our annual Baptist statistics show decreasing attendance and membership, that does not account for all of the Census decline, some of which is likely due to a change in the way that the religious affiliation question was structured.1 Some of the decline in Baptist affiliates would be countered by the increase in the number of people who reported that they were ‘Christian’. (This increased by a massive 42% from 216,177 to 307,936.)

That said, it is clear (but shouldn’t be new news) that today there are less people who call themselves Christian.

Christians as percentage of NZ population

I suspect what this means is that,

100%

as others have wisely commented,2 we are getting a better read on the reality of our contemporary context.

75%

Those who indicate a Christian religious affiliation are more likely to

50%

be connected to the Christian faith and, perhaps, a church.3 Calling

25%

oneself a Christian is no longer the default religious position. The decline 2018

2006

1996

1986

1976

1966

1956

1945

1926

1916

1906

1896

1886

1878

1871

1861

1848

0%

Figure 1: P roportion of NZ population reporting a Christian religious affiliation

that has been steady since the 1960s has reached a very significant marker point: Christianity is no longer the majority religious position in New Zealand.

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How might we be attentive to the good that God is working in the world God loves—good that is occurring beyond, as well as within, the walls of the church? Seriously considering such questions may just open up new possibilities and ways to engage in the mission of God—a mission that involves so much more than our own faltering attempts.

GOD CONTINUES T O B E AT WORK IN THE WORLD GOD LOVES. Our new reality We can look at this new reality in at least two ways.4 We could see our minority status as a problem that needs to be solved, or as a condition to be managed. If we see this as a problem, we are invited to find solutions—things that will return New Zealand to a perceived or actual Christian heritage: a return to Christendom. Such an approach tends to look back, seeking to reclaim an idealised past. It is more likely to be confrontational, pitting present against past, and Christian against non‑believer.

I suggest that it would be more helpful to think about what the Census data tells us, not as a problem to be solved, but as a condition to be lived within. What does it mean to be a minority faith? How might we live faithfully as salt and light, amid a diversity of opinion and action?

What Christians can offer As I think about our contemporary situation, I wonder what we have to offer. Two things immediately strike me. One relates to spirituality and the second to well-being, both of which are recognised as valuable in our wider New Zealand context.

One of the rich blessings of Aotearoa New Zealand is our bicultural heritage. Because of our embedded appreciation of Māoritanga, there is in New Zealand, more than in many so-called secular countries, an appreciation of spirituality, of wairua.

Many New Zealanders recognise the significance of spirituality, and as Christians we have rich taonga that can resource people’s spiritual development.

A second contribution relates to human flourishing. Well-being is a recognised priority of our government.

Again, Christians have much to offer here. In John 10:10, Jesus says that he came that we might have life and

Contributor: Lynne Taylor Lynne is the Jack Somerville Lecturer in Pastoral Theology at the University of Otago and researcher for the Baptist Churches of New Zealand.

Visit Lynne’s website: lynnetaylor.nz or follow her at: facebook.com/drlynnetaylor twitter.com/kiwilynnetaylor.

1. In both 2013 and 2018, the question stated, “What is your religion?” For many Christians, the default answer would be ‘Christian’ rather than specifying a particular denominational affiliation. In 2013, there was another text box for adding additional detail.

In 2018, that additional detail needed to be included in the initial response.

Religious affiliation 60%

45%

2. See, for example, Sandy Kerr’s commentary www.carey.ac.nz/2019/10/ do-statistics-really-matter/.

30%

15%

0%

have it to the full. What would happen if we recaptured human flourishing as a core goal of the church? Christians might be invited to tell the stories of their own personal flourishing.

Churches could recognise and live into their ability to provide environments, care and resources that help others to flourish, regardless of whether they would call themselves Christians.

These sound like the sorts of things that just might be attentive to what God is up to in our world. Things that invite our participation. Not to rescue a ‘dying’ religion. But because God continues to be at work in the world God loves.

2001

Christian (incl Māori)

2006

No religion

2013

Other religions

Figure 2: Changes in NZ religious affiliation (2001-2018)

2018

Object

3. At the same time, there remains a discrepancy between the number of people who state a Christian religious affiliation and the number of people in church on any given Sunday (various measures suggest 10-20% of the NZ population attend church at least monthly).

4. Here I’m drawing on Brian Harris’s helpful distinction between ‘problems’ and ‘conditions’ https:// brianharrisauthor.com/towards-a-21stcentury-church-four-assumptionsto‑challenge/.

v.136 no.1 † rua tekau mā toru 23

Baptist / F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

Transform20 Hearing, learning, sharing

The inspiring story of the collaboration between Glen Eden Baptist Church and the community organisation it birthed, VisionWest Community Trust, was told at their Transform18 conference.

With Transform20 about to take place on 18th to 19th March 2020, Gary Grut and Lisa Woolley share their heart for churches to be encouraged and resourced to take their own community initiatives to the next level.

W

hat have been some outcomes of the Transform18 conference?

Gary: We are fortunate here that God has done something amazing with the church and trust in this space. We have talented people who are working in strategic areas in terms of housing, education, food supply and other sectors.

What was so good coming out of Transform18 was that these key people were able to share their knowledge and the journey we have been on. In the last couple of years, some of those people have come alongside churches that were beginning to explore how to get initiatives off the ground. Things have been igniting in churches—they are starting to buy land, put trusts together. One of these churches will be sharing at Transform20 about

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how they purchased their first house and are working with a family from their community.

What will Transform20 be about?

Lisa: We are excited about the opportunity to bring together pastors and other people working in the community to ask, “How do we have more impact in our community? How do we, as churches, see more of God’s Kingdom here on earth every

How do we, as churches, see more of God’s Kingdom here on earth ever y day? day? What is it that your community needs? What is your community saying to you and how can you be part of what is needed there?” Transform20 will be about sharing our stories and learning from each other.

What will be different at this year’s conference?

Lisa: Our keynote speakers this year include Charles Hewlett (national leader of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand), Aimee Mai (CEO of Christians Against Poverty), and Andrew Becroft (the children's commissioner). Fred Astle, who is head of our Māori development, will share our journey of pressing into kaupapa Māori. Even though we are still in the first few years of this journey, we have come so far and learnt so much. We often have other organisations coming to us now, asking, “Can you help us in this space?” I say to anybody that is on that kaupapa Māori journey, come along and hear, learn and share in that story as well.

In the workshops we will discuss what sorts of support and encouragement different groups need to help them grow to the next level, and how we can do that as communities of faith together.

Who will gain the most from attending Transform20?

Gary: The people who would really benefit are change-makers—pastors, elders, people who have a real heart for mission in their local community, and the leaders in that space.

If I was a pastor in a church where we had just begun something, I think I’d want to come to this conference

and go, “There are key people here I can get alongside and who have the knowledge to help me go that step further.” That kind of support is hard to access at other times, so this will be the time to do it.

Every church has got a different scenario in terms of the community that God has placed it in. Part of stepping into something like Transform20 is having conversations that will help you to identify the needs in your community and how you can start responding to them.

Lisa: At Transform18 we had senior pastors attending as well as people involved in community ministries. It was a great cross-section of church and community leadership. I think that is what made it work so well, because groups were all talking about the same thing when they went back to their local communities. We would really encourage that real cross-section of the leadership of the church and community ministries to attend.

There are also organisations that want a space where they can grow and be challenged in providing faith‑based community services.

There will be people and groups out there who would like to connect, as well, even if they are not attached to a local church but they are doing an awesome job in the community.

You talk about having a passion to grow a movement of churches to reach their communities with transformative, faith-led initiatives. Tell us more.

Gary: Yes, we are passionate about it but we get our passion from God.

It’s his passion. For our church, it wasn’t paralysis by analysis; it was like, “Hey, there is a need in our community; let’s go meet it.” Then from there God continued to grow this thing. Imagine if every church in the country significantly engaged in its community. Wow! What could happen in this space? God’s heart is to see people cared for. He has a social justice heart just as he has a salvation heart. It is part of the gospel. If we link all this together it could be amazing.

Lisa: Our goal for Transform20 is to share our story, to learn and hear from others, to see what we can take back to our local church and communities.

What we are interested in is how we can work together collaboratively to see more of God’s Kingdom here on earth, whatever that looks like in different communities. Transform20 is a platform for people to come together and to create those connections, share with each other, and see how we can resource each other.

Faith-based, faith-led... is there a difference?

Lisa: Being faith-based is the underpinning premise that you come from; it’s your foundations.

At VisionWest we recently changed our language from being a faithbased organisation to being faith-led.

What does that mean exactly? Well, if we are considering a new area that we feel called into, it is about how we pray through that, how we hear God’s direction in that. Or if we are sitting with a staff member or whānau who might be going through something, it is about how we

IMAGINE IF EVERY CHURCH IN THE C O U N T R Y S I G N I F I C A N T LY E N G A G E D I N I T S C O M M U N I T Y. W O W ! W H AT COULD HAPPEN IN THIS SPACE? v.136 no.1 † rua tekau mā rima 25

Baptist / F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

bring prayer into that situation and invite God into it.

Gary: It would be easy for a trust of this size to pull away from the church and just become a social justice organisation. But what is that without God? God, church and trust together is a formidable combination. It is about us working together to see a greater vision, to see people in love with Jesus. Faith is at the core and is the thing we must fight for all the time. We just can’t walk away from that. It is so, so important.

To find out more and to register for Transform20, go to www.visionwest.org.nz/transform20.

Contributor: Gary Grut

Contributor: Lisa Woolley

Gary is the senior pastor of Glen Eden Baptist Church. Gary’s ministry experience commenced in 1987 when he gave his life to the Lord. He has previously served in the role of youth worker at two Auckland churches, associate pastor at Titirangi Baptist Church for 15 years, and then national team leader for Baptist Youth Ministries.

Gary is married to Sarah and they have been blessed with four wonderful boys.

Lisa is CEO of VisionWest Community Trust, one of New Zealand’s largest community services providers. With more than 20 years’ experience as an advocate, volunteer, policy advisor, commentator, manager and CEO, she is passionate about community development and addressing social issues. She has a Masters in Social Practice and has been recognised for her leadership with awards locally and internationally.

Transform20 combines inspirational keynote messages with practical ‘how to’ workshops on community ministries.

He Rerenga Whakahoutanga Our keynote speakers will challenge and encourage you to engage as a Church on topics of Poverty, Homelessness, Community Development, Chaplaincy, and Kaupapa Māori. You will leave inspired and equipped to bring transformational change in your local context. See the website to find out more.

Keynote speakers include: • Andrew Becroft - Children’s Commissioner • Aimee Mai - CEO Christians Against Poverty • Charles Hewett - National Leader of the Baptist Union • Lisa Woolley - CEO VisionWest Community Trust Only $65 per person – Register Now!

Proudly supported by the Baptist Foundation

AUCKLAND | 18 - 19 MARCH 2020 | visionwest.org.nz/transform20

Baptist / H E A L T H Y R E S O U R C E S

5

ways to strengthen your eldership team

One of the most frequent requests to Carey’s Centre for Lifelong Learning (CCLL) is for church eldership resources. Mike Crudge shares five ways to strengthen your eldership team and introduces a new resource for elders.

1. Get to know each other better The more any group or team know each other personally, the easier the relating and communicating becomes for tasks at hand. Eat together— depending on your rhythm of meeting, perhaps once a month start with a meal together. Get to know each other’s families. Practise hospitality together—perhaps two elders’ families could invite a new family at church for a meal together. Care for each other—let people see how you care for one another.

2. Worship God together Regularly set aside valuable time as a group to communicate together to God how amazing God is. There are many ways this can be done. Ask each other how you most naturally worship God, and over time allow each person to lead the group in this way. This could be the nucleus of your church’s culture of generosity and worship.

3. Learn together Is there an area or topic that would be helpful to work through together— perhaps a particular aspect of Scripture, or a te reo Māori course.

Learn each other’s strengths and personality traits; there are several tools that can help with this that are fun to do together: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Enneagram, StrengthsFinder. Experts are available to help get the most from this. Does your eldership understand compliance obligations? Martyn Norrie’s recent book Good Governance is Worth the Effort: a Handbook for

Christian Churches and Charities in Aotearoa is a must‑read. Consider working through this book together as an eldership group.1 The Baptist National Centre has an intranet with manuals and policy documents on a wide range of things to do with the local church; explore this together. Perhaps you could do a helpful online video series designed to be worked through with eldership and board groups.

4.

Do an annual audit of your work together As elders, how has your work together gone over the last year? Have you been doing what is expected of you as elders? What has been done well?

Are there areas that need more or less focus in the year ahead? Are you becoming more or less biblical? Where has God been seen? You could create a simple annual audit framework on a piece of paper that gets circulated at the same time each year for pondering and reflection together.

5. Be a mentor Have at least one person in your faith family with whom you can spend time sharing life and faith insights, and spur them on in their faith and leadership development. Perhaps have coffee together once a month, or invite them for a meal or walk. Ask someone if they would like to do this with you over the next six months. Sometimes it’s hard to find new elders; you might find the next generation comes out of the group being mentored. Learn from biblical examples of mentoring.

Better Church Elders online video series In this new online video series, Baptist National Leader Charles Hewlett interviews people on the following topics: The Bible and Eldership, Eldership and Governance, Models of Eldership, Bringing the Bible into Decision Making, Maintaining Healthy Eldership Relationships, and Strengthening our Eldership Team. The videos are 15‑20 minutes each, and come with a group study guide. This online video series can be purchased for NZ$120. New Zealand Baptist Churches get 50% off using promo code NZBAPTIST. See lifelonglearning.nz/elders.

Contributor: Dr Mike Crudge Mike facilitates the Carey Centre for Lifelong Learning which primarily exists to resource and support people in church leadership roles (formal and informal). He has been a pastor in two church contexts, and is now a member of Royal Oak Baptist Church.

1. There is an eight-month online Guided Learning option called Good Governance, facilitated by Martyn Norrie, that slowly works through his book. Join a cohort that together engages with the material, including reflecting on your own context. Starts 10 February 2020: lifelonglearning.nz/ guided-learning-2020.

v.136 no.1 † rua tekau mā whitu 27

Baptist / P R O F I L E

>

meet…

Heather Roberts

co-founder of Just Kai

Heather Roberts and her husband Martin attend Avondale Baptist Church. Together with friends Anna Seccombe and Sarah Woodfield, they formed Just Kai, a group that researches food supply chains to find and promote slave-free choices. This is her story.

Surely we don’t have slave-produced food in this country?

Food produced by slaves is on the shelves of every supermarket in New Zealand. For example, sugar from cane that is grown by people forced to work on plantations in Brazil, or tuna caught by people working without pay on boats in the South West Pacific. More than 40 million people work as slaves today.1 Most are in domestic service or the sex industry, but around seven million produce physical goods such as food.2 That’s terrible, but it is also an opportunity. We are the end customers for these people’s labour, and that gives us power. If we choose to always buy food produced by people working freely, the business model that keeps those people enslaved will collapse and they will be set free.

Why is the cause close to your heart?

I first became concerned in 2006 when I learned child labour was common in the cocoa industry. Around 20% of all cocoa grown in the world today is grown by children.3 Then in the last two to three years I started hearing even worse things about the fishing industry. Stories about men like Lang Long from Cambodia, who signed up for a job in the construction industry in Thailand. When he arrived for work he was forced onto a fishing boat: he’d been trafficked. He worked there for three years, shackled at the neck whenever other boats came near, till an NGO rescued him.

I was horrified to realise fish caught like this was sold here. I kept thinking about the story of the Good Samaritan, where Jesus calls us to help our neighbours. Once I learned that my neighbours were suffering to produce my food, I couldn’t ‘walk by on the other side’.

28 rua tekau mā waru † v.136 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

You had an experience last year that has freed you to work on this issue more. Tell us about this.

For nearly 16 years I’d been ill with chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME. I was only able to be active for about four hours a day and struggled to think clearly. In November 2018 Just Kai arranged to have a table at Tearfund’s Justice Conference. We assumed the others would attend and I would stay home in bed, but God had other plans and healed me overnight. I was able to go to the main day of the conference and have been much stronger ever since.

I believe God has healed me for this work. I am now available to talk to churches and groups about slave‑free food.

How can we identify slave-free food?

It can be hard to know which food is reliably slave free, but that’s where Just Kai comes in. We ‘name and fame’ good companies with slave-free supply chains. The Just Kai website (justkai.org.nz) has buying guides for the foods at highest risk of slave labour: fish, cocoa and sugar. ‘Like’ our Facebook page for updates: facebook.com/justkainz.

Check us out before you next buy tuna for your sandwiches or chocolate for your sweetheart.

Slaves are producing our food; let’s support slave‑free brands!  1. “2018 Findings Highlights”, Global Slavery Index, www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/highlights/.

2. As quoted by Mark Devadason of The Mekong Club (a Hong Kong-based anti-slavery NGO) in an interview on National Radio on 5 September 2019. www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ ninetonoon/audio/2018711940/fighting-exploitation-in-the-newzealand-supply-chain.

3. The Global Slavery Index 2018 (pages 56-58) says that a third of those working on cocoa plantations in Ghana and Côte D’Ivoire are children and that those countries are responsible for 60% of the global cocoa crop.

Aimee Whitmire/lightstock.com

Baptist / W H A T ’ S O N Y O U R M I N D ?

Boundaries— do they inhibit or create freedom?

Over the years I’ve connected with

challenged when viewed through the

or do they create it? Without them,

Tony Campolo on a few occasions.

lens of contemporary thought and

I suspect we’d all drive in the middle

Campolo’s ministry has been

values. The Ten Commandments

lane; with them there all six lanes are

controversial to some, but profoundly

(Exodus 20), which God gave to

used.

impactful on me. He’s an amazing

Moses for a newly emerging nation,

storyteller. At a missions conference

are a case in point. They once gave

group leaders: maybe the Ten

in 1983, he told the story of a group

boundary fences that fostered

Commandments are worth a fresh

of liberal educators who once tried an

freedom, liberty and safety within

look. Jesus seemed to think so

experiment with kindergarten children

which God’s people could play the

(Matthew 5:17-20). Are they as

and their playground. They took away

game of life. But are they for today?

anachronistic and outdated as some

all the boundary fences around the

There’s no shortage of moral

property because they were perceived

commentators on the age in which

to create harmful restrictions on

we live. By way of an analogy, imagine

children as they played and learned

each of our individual lives was

personal responsibility. By removing

likened to a series of boats floating

them they hoped that children would

on ‘the sea of life’. Could it be argued

feel the freedom of having no barriers

that the moral anchors have been

and develop their own values and

pulled up from anything solid on the

limits on their play. An interesting thing

seabed and our boats are merely tied

happened. The children tended to

to each other—giving the illusion of

huddle in the centre of the playground

safety? Together we drift on the tide of

and showed signs of deep insecurity

popular opinion. Permissible behaviour

in their play. Then they put the

becomes whatever the majority believe

boundary fences back, and again

is right.

something really interesting happened.

Living in San Francisco, we often

The children began to play all over

drove across the Golden Gate Bridge.

the playground, even right up to the

The fences on either side were an

edges of the property that were now

annoying barrier, inhibiting the view.

bounded by fences.

“Surely in our enlightened age such

In a postmodern culture, we’re

boundaries are unnecessary; as

ambivalent about rules. We want less

grown-ups we can make wise choices

of them, and those from an ancient

and lane selections!” The drop to

past are increasingly challenged.

the harbour below is 67 metres and

All foundations of morality, belief

almost always not survivable. Do those

and religion seem to be increasingly

boundaries really inhibit freedom,

To preachers and small

like to think? Or is their wisdom worth rediscovering in our 21st century?

Reflection: Brian Winslade Brian has been a Baptist pastor for 40 years, including missionary service in Bangladesh, national leader of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand (2001-2006), and national director for the Baptist Union of Australia. He studied at Carey Baptist College and Bethel University, MN (D.Min). He currently is senior pastor of Hamilton Central Baptist Church, and a member of the International Council for the World Evangelical Alliance. Read a review of Brian’s book Boundaries: Re‑discovering the Ten Commandments for the Twenty‑first Century at baptistmag.org.nz/boundaries/.

v.136 no.1 † rua tekau mā iwa 29

Baptist / C O M M U N I Q U É

assembly council

Assembly Council meets six times a year. We are a bit like a school board or an oversight group. We are especially interested in Baptist national polices, national staffing and matters of ‘governance’ for our movement. Maybe not too exciting for some folk but very energising for others! Assembly Council has been described as the committee of our movement that keeps pressing on with our collective vision in between our annual Hui. There are usually eight elected members, for a two-year term, with half of us up for election at each annual Hui. The meetings also include the president, the vice president, the national leader, the chair of Mission Council, and the national administrator.

The Baptist National Centre’s office manager takes our minutes. The capacity to co-opt another two or three folk is also a possibility. We are a diverse, focused, and (hopefully!)

prayerful team who love our movement of churches and seek to discern the mind of Christ as we meet in this setting.

Our last meeting was held on 5th December 2019, not long after the 2019 Hui at South West Baptist Church. The meeting included appointing a chair (me!), picking up on themes from the Hui, and spending some intensive time on governance training. We also welcomed Pastor Das Premadas of Ōtāhuhu Community Baptist Church as our newest member (see below).

There is a strong sense of unity among our team, and a desire to be effective governors at this time for our movement. That means we are talking more about structures like our 1923 Act of Incorporation, how we can improve our relationships across the movement, and how our background work might set people free to thrive.

One final thing I noticed as we met in December was the repeated use of a few key words: renewal, resources, governance, reconciliation and association. Stringing them together caused me to write this: “Imagine

if our governance facilitated richer associating, causing the unlocking of resources that generated renewal and reconciliation.”

Pray for our governance outcomes to be like that. Pray that God’s way would be the way that we notice and follow. Pray that our work would help to strengthen people and places so they thrive because of Jesus. And pray for us, too!

God’s best for you

Chris Chamberlain 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.

New appointments David Allen was commissioned at the annual Hui in November as the president of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand and the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society for 2020.

After theological study in the USA, David worked in New Zealand as a pastor. He and his wife Helen joined Interserve in 1997 and David took up the position of pastor to the Alexandria community church in Egypt. The family moved to Cyprus in 2001, when David joined Interserve’s international leadership team as area director for the Arab world. In 2006 David was appointed as director of People Development for Interserve. The family moved back to New Zealand in 2008. Since then, David has served as an interim pastor in a number of Auckland churches and was involved with Leadership Network. 

30 toru tekau † v.136 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

Premadas Devasundara Das is the Baptist Union’s newest elected Assembly Council member.

Das is a senior pastor at Ōtāhuhu Community Baptist Church for the Tamil congregation and has been serving as a pastor since 2006. He was part of the team responsible in the formation of a new multi-ethnic congregation model of church at Ōtāhuhu Baptist seven years ago. He has served in the Baptist Multicultural Inclusion Ministries team from its early days. Das also runs a fortnightly ministry amongst Indians at Hamilton, called the Hamilton Indian Christian Fellowship.

He has served the church as a treasurer, elder and worship leader for the past 19 years. He is a team builder and loves encouraging everyone to rise up and serve God to their full potential. 

Directory AVONHEAD ASSISTANT PASTOR

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VISIT OUR BRAND NEW WEBSITE www.wildsidepublishing.com

Passing Notes Indentured Labour.—We are very anxious about indentured labour in Samoa. A certain amount of it was licensed by a vote of the House last session. We are on the look-out for authentic news. The Christchurch Council of Churches is putting itself into touch with missionaries in Samoa on the question. We are glad to hear that the Parliamentary Party are to visit the neighbouring U.S.A. islands, where there is said to be no indentured labour. It is notable that just as indentured labour is licensed by us for Samoa, the indentures of Indians for the Fijian sugar fields are being all cancelled. To a Methodist minister, the Rev. J. W. Burton, we owe a great deal for his exposure of the scandals of that system. If N.Z. indentures in Samoa are run without injustice we shall be surprised. We are already regarded by Samoans with suspicion, through our bungling over the epidemic. If we cap that with another and equally deadly mistake in regard of this objectionable form of labour, we may find our mandate quite deservedly cancelled. That the Germans also did it is not a satisfying excuse.

Baptist Magazine, February 1920

>

SENIOR PASTOR

Avonhead Baptist is prayerfully seeking an Assistant Pastor - child, youth and family ministries to support our vision of “Discipling the Nations across the Ages”.

We are looking for someone who has the vision to see our church grow as an intergenerational family.

The person God is calling to this role would:

Palmerston North Central Baptist Church We seek a full time Senior Pastor to give leadership under God to the people and staff of Palmerston North Central Baptist Church.

If this sounds like you, please request an info pack by writing to: THE SECRETARY, PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE pastoralsearch@pncbc.org.nz FOR MORE INFORMATION RING THE CHAIRPERSON, BRENT NORRISH 027 431 5678 Applications close on Friday 21st February 2020.

•

Be a passionate communicator able to relate to our church family.

•

Develop and execute a vision for ministry areas, and provide overarching connections and pathways.

•

Be willing to fully participate in the life of the church and outreach to the community.

•

Support ministry leaders and workers with training and resourcing.

•

Use their unique spiritual giftings to guide them in shaping this role.

FOR ENQUIRIES AND A COPY OF THE POSITION DESCRIPTION PLEASE CONTACT JONATHAN WEUSTEN, CHAIRPERSON SEARCH TEAM AT appointments@avonheadbaptist.org.

Applications close 5pm Friday 28th February 2020.

v.136 no.1 † toru tekau mā tahi 31

<

Directory AFFORDABLE HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

YOUTH PASTOR (PART TIME/NEGOTIABLE)

SENIOR PASTOR

Havelock North - Arohanui Church offers 2 self contained units with off street parking.

God is calling a new senior pastor to Westgate. Is this you?

We are seeking someone who:

(one sleeps three and one sleeps 5) Single Adult $70, $90 Couple, $30 Extra Adult pp. 5-14yrs $15. Under 5 yrs free.

FOR FURTHER INFO PLEASE CONTACT MARGARET ON 027 326 4363 OR mrameka1@gmail.com.

LEAD PASTOR

Manurewa Baptist Church is looking for a person committed to building and supporting young people in their faith journey. We want you to walk with them as they seek to find and follow Jesus, partnering with God as He resources and empowers them in their contexts, thriving as they become all that God has called them to be.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU:

Northpoint Baptist Church is a contemporary community-focused Church, seeking a Lead Pastor.

We are seeking a visionary leader, with a heart for mission in our communities. The role requires a proven ability to develop people and leaders and empower servanthood.

We require a theologically trained pastor, with the ability to preach/ teach and equip others in discipleship and teaching.

Our ideal candidate will want to build strong relationships within our wider communities beyond the church, accommodate diversity, and have a pastoral heart.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO MAKE AN APPLICATION PLEASE CONTACT US AT applications@northpoint.org.nz .

Applications close on Tuesday 28th February 2020.

You will know Jesus and want to pursue Him before all else. You will want to make MBC and the community in which God has placed us, as your place of whare and as your whānau. Willing to be in boots and all, to lead and be led, to serve and be served. You will be able to build support teams, have great communication skills, and be willing to do this in a team environment.

• is a courageous, relational leader with a heart after God. • is passionate about communicating the Word and inspiring people to be growing, Spirit-filled, prayerful, worshipful and missional, who will demonstrate Jesus in the community.

We want a leader to create a collaborative, inclusive, generous and transforming culture within our church family and in our homes, neighborhoods and workplaces for God’s glory.

Westgate is situated in a fast-growing diverse area of north-west Auckland.

ENQUIRIES VIA CLIFF EDMEADES cd.edmeades@gmail.com 0274 416 111

Please pray then make your interest known.

WHAT WE WILL BE TO YOU:

We are a community that is grounded and real. We love Jesus and want to partner with Him as He moves in and around us. So we will tell it as we see it, and love you as we each endeavour to respond to God’s call on our lives. We will support you, laugh with you and cry with you; above all else we will pray with and for you!

GAY & CHRISTIAN

PONSONBY BAPTIST

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

INTERESTED? CONTACT THE SENIOR PASTOR lyndon@mbcfamily.org

32 toru tekau mā rua † v.136 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

ponsonbybaptist.org.nz/gay-andchristian-information

Glo bal Mis si on

Photo of the month The NZBMS staff conference was held in Vietnam over the New Year. A big thank you to those who prayed for, and financially supported, this event; it was a fantastic time of spiritual input, sharing, and connection.

A full conference report will be available in the April edition.

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

v.136 no.1 â&#x20AC; toru tekau mÄ toru 33

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

A word from Andrew THERE IS A NEED Why send people to overseas missionary service? Easy— because God calls us to. It’s in the Great Commission, and Acts 1, and... from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible tells us of our place in God’s mission.

We also know about the need. Over 40% of the world’s population are ‘unreached’, and at least 1.5 billion people do not have the full Bible available in their first language.

We know that, while many of our churches here in New Zealand can afford to have more than one pastor, a lack of trained leaders means, in many parts of the world, pastors shepherd more than one church.

There always seems to be a need for more workers for the harvest field. Why is that? Is God’s call not loud enough? Or are we not listening? In the 1970s, New Zealand led the world in sending missionaries. Today we need to increase the number we send tenfold to catch up to the likes of Palestine!

While it is true that sending someone from New Zealand is not always the best option (the right option can be supporting indigenous workers), I’m convinced that there are some, perhaps many, sitting in our church pews who should be serving overseas. Why aren’t they? In most cases, it’s not because they are ignoring God’s call; it’s because they have never been asked.

Will you be a church that deliberately challenges its people to go?

• Who is the young voracious reader to whom you should give a copy of a children-friendly William Carey, Hudson Taylor or Mary Slessor biography?

• Are some of your high schoolers or young adults ready for an ongoing conversation about plans for their future?

• Who are the families with children that God is calling on an adventure?

• Or the older couple, with no dependants who have a wealth of knowledge and experience that could be used overseas?

• What about the singles who God is stirring?

• What about your retirees who only need to be home for 183 days a year to remain eligible for superannuation?

Let’s not wait for overworked church leaders to find the time for these conversations—start this coming Sunday!

Ngā mihi nui Andrew Page Acting General Director

36 toru tekau mā ono † v.136 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

Each edition, in this column, someone associated with NZBMS reflects on one of the themes surrounding Prayer and Self-Denial 2020. This month, Mission Council member, Lyn Davis, reflects on “Woven Together”.

Recently I visited my mum. A master of knitting, she was using up seemingly useless scraps of wool to create a pair of kiddies' multi-coloured socks. They are cute and orderly in pattern on the outside, but look on the inside and the many colours look random and messy. You certainly would not want to wear them inside out!

Mum puts me in mind of our Master Weaver, God himself. He takes the bits and pieces of our individual lives, the good and the messy, and he takes a group of motley followers, and weaves us into something beautiful. Colossians 2:2 (ESV) says, “...that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ.”

Just as those little socks will warm a child’s feet, we note that he does his weaving to encourage our hearts. We all need encouragement when times get hard. One commentary tells us that to ‘knit together’ may mean to be drawn or even driven together. I love the idea of being driven together. It implies some urgency, some greater need and interdependence.

We also read that the work of knitting is done in love, each stitch in it’s perfect place according to the Master’s plan. Done because of his great love for us.

And finally, we read of the desired result: we grow more and more like Christ so that, one day, we too will be, as individuals and as a community, perfected in him.

As we continue to think about being woven together, let’s remember we are part of a global community—a Revelation 7:9 people. We can participate in God’s plan by expressing our love for others through prayers for our overseas workers and all they do on our behalf as New Zealand Baptists in places throughout the world.

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

STORIES

Stories of Treasure and Transformation

Clean up

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

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

Birthday We like to celebrate with the ‘family’ here at our freedom business. Recently we marked the third ‘birthday’ or our third intake of women. As is tradition, we had banana cake and candles and shared words of both encouragement and reflection, acknowledging how wonderful it is that these women have been free for three years. Amongst the excitement of the day we also remembered one dear woman and friend who was a part of this intake and died ten months ago. This was the first freedom birthday without her, meaning our laughter was mixed with tears.

Thank you for your continuing loyal prayers for our work and these women.

Recently a few friends from our fellowship decided to go to a nearby mountain and pick up rubbish for the day, followed by a nice swim in the lake. Armed with rubbish grabbers, the 12 of us set out up the hill, collecting bits of plastic, takeaway containers and cans as we went. After a fairly steep uphill part, we sat down for lunch. A group of local people who were tramping for the day stopped to say hi. One lady asked how we all knew each other.

The next day she turned up at our fellowship, bringing along her husband and two children too. People made them feel right at home and got their children involved in games during the afternoon family time.

The welcome they experienced seemed to leave quite an impression on this lady, but I have a feeling it wasn’t just the family we met who took something meaningful away from all this. One of the girls in our group took a special interest in this family, making sure they knew where to come, and taking them under her wing. In the process, I wonder if she might just have received a boost in her own journey too. It’s great how just being ourselves and getting out to do something for the day resulted in us being involved in something bigger.

From a Tranzsend worker in East Asia

MISSIO

N

TRIVIA

ere eople w p y n a How m o the world’s added t n in 2019? tio popula age 39 Answe

r on p

From Tranzsend workers in South Asia R EAD M ORE

about the work of Tranzsend at tranzsend.org.nz v.136 no.1 † toru tekau mā whitu 37

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

We’re in this together Six roles of your church missions committee There is something powerful about a group of people gathering around a common purpose, but only if that gathering understands its strategy to achieve that purpose. What about your church mission committee? Have you ever thought about what you do and why?

In this edition, we examine six roles of your church mission committee. Hopefully, this can be used as a checklist against which to measure and motivate the mission committee you are a part of, and as a tool to plan your year’s mission programming.

Education. We live in an age where paying attention to mission, at home and overseas, does not always come naturally, and yet it is one of Christ’s mandates for all followers. You and your mission committee can help integrate world mission into the lives of your church members by offering practical teaching about mission, whether it be through small groups or larger worship services.

Prayer. We believe in the power of prayer. As a mission committee, you have the responsibility to present your congregation with the latest information and prayer needs.

You can also work with your pastor to integrate prayer for world mission into the wider church programme.

Special events. Special events with a mission focus are a great way of inspiring others to involve themselves in global mission. NZBMS’s annual focus on Prayer and Self-Denial is one example of a special event. There are many others to choose from, or you can develop your own.

Resources. Most people don’t have time to look for inspirational material relating to mission, but many would read it or watch it if it was available. Be on the lookout for books, teaching programmes, YouTube clips, websites, and other material that could be used by individuals or small groups to challenge your church to mission.

Personnel. A church mission committee needs to encourage as many people as possible to take a practical part in the church mission programme, whether it’s by supporting the church’s missionaries, or perhaps even going overseas themselves.

Finance. No matter which way we look at it, an effective mission’s programme requires funding and one role of the mission committee is to stimulate and encourage congregational giving. That can be through special one-off events, or through a programme of regular offerings.

Ever wondered how quickly the world’s population is growing?

Use this QR code to find out.

38 toru tekau mā waru † v.136 no.1 baptistmag.org.nz

SMALL BITES

INTRODUCING SHAYLA BALL

In October 2019, Shayla began her role as NZBMS accounts clerk, working out of the Penrose office.

Shayla is a recent graduate of Auckland University of Technology, with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Accounting with a minor in International Business.

She is a member of The Render Gathering in South Auckland.

As an introduction to her background, Shayla says, “I live in Manurewa, fourth in a family of six children. I am Māori from Waikato and Ngāpuhi. I want to thank everyone at the office for making me feel so welcome in this awesome workplace. I look forward to working alongside such an amazing bunch of people.”

MISSION

TRIVIA ANSWE R

81,478,3 15 (Give or ta few thou ke a s a nd )

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

SOCIAL WORKER

Serving with Tranzsend.

Serving with Interserve.

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

Opportunities exist for people with skills in working with children or youth, mentoring small businesses, and more... Short or long term.

In Central Asia (1-11 months, 12-23 months), helping with social and educational services, specifically helping women in crisis situations.

To assist in development of social programmes and training local staff.

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

For more, email: talk2us@interserve.org.nz

For more, email: talk2us@interserve.org.nz

Serving with Interserve.

YOUTH AND CHILDREN’S WORKER Central Asia (1-11 months +, salaried), growing, international fellowship provides Sunday worship services and youth/ children’s ministry for expat community.

Seeking an experienced person to provide leadership for the church’s youth and children’s programmes.

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

n e v o W er

h t e g To s s e M e h t g n i Mend t c e f r e The P

e r u t Pic

ch for r u h c r u o y Register elf-Denial 2020 S Prayer & .nz g r o . d n e s at tranz