Portal (Issue 10) by BotanyLife Community Church

Issue 10 | May - Aug 2014

Contents {regulars} 03

Pastor’s Column What a year!

Feature Article Global Outreach - Thailand

Leadership Spotlight Meet Robin and Sonia Byrne - New Pastor

A Place to Shine Update Thanks MMM!

Youth Ministry SwitchOn Review

Children’s Ministry What’s The Orchard

Community Groups An interview with Robin Byrne

Who’s That? Get to know some of our fellow members in the church

Marriage and Parenting The Small Things by Nikki Bray of Family Life

What’s On at BotanyLife? Get your pens out and mark these dates on your calendar

{specials} 10

Who we support The Story of La Mai Coffee

Outreach Community Project

10 Year Timeline The middle years of BotanyLife

Family Service EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

pastor’s column

What a Year! T

As I type this, I’m also listening to the sounds of hammers and saws through the walls of the office, as MMM and other volunteers from BotanyLife continue the fitout of our community centre. It’s so exciting seeing walls going up and the community centre taking shape. While we are still many months away from final completion, having our own space and seeing it come together is really thrilling. I can’t wait for many of our ministries and events, such as Chickzone, ALTR, and mainlymusic, to be hosted in this new facility.

his is an exciting year at BotanyLife. At the beginning of the year we celebrated our tenth anniversary as a church, and spent some time looking back and thanking God for his faithfulness to us as a church. This issue of Portal continues that celebration with the next section of the 10-year timeline that we started in the last issue, covering the middle years of 2007-2010. In the middle of those celebrations, we announced on Vision Sunday that the elders were looking at adding to the pastoral staff of our church. I then had the joy of announcing in May that we were hiring our first new fulltime member of staff since 2006, by bringing Robin Byrne onto staff as our Worship and Groups Pastor. Robin is now in the office, having joined the staff team a few weeks ago, and is already making a big difference by helping to share the workload of our team. I am so thankful for the elders making the decision to extend an offer to Robin, and so grateful that Robin and Sonia accepted it.

And there’s so much more. I’m enjoying the challenge of preaching through Isaiah, and hearing so many comments about how God is using the teaching to shape and encourage people’s souls. Seeing new community groups starting up, and current groups continuing strongly, is always an encouragement. I’m really thrilled at how our youth ministries are flourishing, and our BotanyKids programs are going superbly well. I was so excited about how the Explore course went earlier in the year, and I’m delighted that Explore will be offered again in term 4. And on top of all that, we have our next community project about to take place.

We have also completed our exploratory trip to Thailand in June. As you know Mark, Owen and I had the privilege of travelling to Thailand with Kevin Honore, the Field Director with Bright Hope World, the organisation that we have chosen as our key global partner. It was such a privilege to see all of Bright Hope’s projects and to meet their partners in Thailand. It reminded me again just how large the global church is, and how God is at work through his people around the world. We are excited about the three projects we have selected to work with over the coming years (Hilltribe Hope, Rahab Ministries, and the Good News Team).

So much is going on, and it really does feel like we are on the cusp of a fantastic season of ministry in the next few years. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Lord does in and through our lives together. Cheers,

Brad

the Portal team {editor} Shawn Crane {writers} Brad Carr / Mel Palmer / Mel Thorburn / Mark van Wijk / Max Carr Debbie du Toit / Megan Molloy / Melissa Guyan / Abby Smith / Zac Cuplan / Andy and Nikki Bray {art} Art Director/Designer - Amanda Crane 3

BotanyLife community church {staff} Lead Pastor/Elder - Brad (& Rochelle) Carr Community Pastor - Mark (& Steph) van Wijk Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pastor - Mel (& Drew) Palmer Worship & Groups Pastor - Robin (& Sonia) Byrne office Administrator - Mel (& Julian) Thorburn Sunday Administrator - Mandy Francis

{Elders} Todd (& Sheree) Hughes KK (& Susan) Leong Andre (& Christl) Kirstein Stuart & Ianthe jones (Guest Elder)

Feature article

Global Outreach Text by Mark van Wijk.

Here’s a rundown on the projects that we encountered:

e recently took another big step in the Global Sphere of our Outreach Strategy (see Outreach article in Portal, Issue 9). That step involved a small team of us heading to Thailand, to explore a number of project opportunities with our key Global Outreach Partner Bright Hope World.

Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) “Since 1990 the ITDP has assisted hill tribe people to cope with the many changes that have taken place in their livelihoods. This has predominantly been through small projects providing special assistance with drinking water, irrigation systems, farming and income generation, fish farming, establishing a coffee cooperative, and self-help groups.” The longest section of our trip was spent with Mike Mann, who along with his wife Becky, is a director of ITDP. As the four of us joined Mike in his Hilux ute for hours on end, and as we got to know him, we discovered that whilst he is technically American, he has spent most of his life in Thailand, is much more comfortable in the Thai culture, and has a real heart for Thai people as well as the hill tribe groups with whom they mostly work. Mike’s father was involved in planting coffee in Thailand as a replacement for Opium crops as far back as the 1970’s, a legacy that continues in the ‘Lai Mai’ coffee that is sourced from ITDP and served at BotanyLife. A good portion of the first of three days we were with Mike, was spent travelling the 400ish kilometres southeast from Chiang Mai to the remote village of Kree Maw Kee (I’ve discovered that place name spelling in some parts of Thailand can be rather ‘flexible’ so don’t take my word for it). A couple of hours of this trip was off-road, much to the delight of Owen and myself, who jumped in the back of the ute for some fresh air and excitement as we negotiated the (often quite soft) clay roads.

Owen Jennings (Our Global Outreach Team Leader), Brad Carr and I joined Bright Hope World Field Director Kevin Honore for 8 days in June. We met with and were inspired by a range of project teams, working in a variety of locations, but all committed to transforming the communities they work in, as they meet their needs - both physical and spiritual.

Kree Maw Kee is very remote, and is almost on the border of Myanmar, where many of the people in the village (from the Karen (kih-rin) tribe) have migrated from. 6

After returning to Chiang Mai, we flew down to Bangkok, where we spent the rest of our time in Thailand. We spent our first afternoon with Kilam, Prai and Sasithon who run Rahab Ministries, right in the heart of Bangkok’s red light district (Patpong), where they have been operating since 1989. Internationally, prostitution and trafficking of Asian women and children is increasing. It is the third largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world and one of the most urgent human rights issues today. Over 4000 women work each night in the sex tourism industry of Patpong. Rahab Ministries is situated in the middle of this red light area and rescues girls from prostitution in the bars of Bangkok and helps rehabilitate them through training and education.

We then stayed the night at nearby Ma Oh Jo, staying with local families. This village has benefitted from a variety of ITDP’s development work including a health clinic, crop farming, a school, onsite hostel accommodation for students from other villages, and local chaplains. The next day’s journey, which included an hilarious hunt for enough cellphone reception to access the All Blacks live Twitter feed, took us north to Huay Hom.

Rahab Ministries has three objectives: • To share the love of Jesus Christ through friendship evangelism and social concern.

This village has undergone decades of development work including water, electricity, sanitation, farming and crop growing. This village also operates a coffee growing co-op (with 30,000+ trees) that includes 29 families, and is the primary source for the ‘La Mai’ coffee (as well as Starbucks’ Muan Jai blend). We spent an evening meeting with most of the co-op members, and it was inspiring to hear about the difference the coffee scheme (and associated micro-enterprise loans) has made for them and their families. As a comparison, only 10% of the adults present had completed their schooling, and now 100% of their children are in school, and are expected to complete high school. The danger of falling prey to high-interest loan sharks is now also gone, with the ITDP micro-enterprise loans available to them. We also learned that all of the families in the village had left behind their animistic beliefs and are now Christians, and have established their own church in the village. As we chatted with a couple of the key church leaders we were impressed with the way they expressed their faith, and with their clear heart for God.

• To provide practical help and emotional support to girls working in prostitution. • To provide opportunities for education, vocational training and alternative employment. These objectives are met through: Bar Visitation and Outreach Parties Each week the outreach team visits different bars in Patpong seeking to make contacts through friendship evangelism, as well as running monthly “Outreach Parties”. As they build relationships they are able to tell the women about Rahab and what support and new opportunities they can offer them. Rahab Bazaar Rahab Bazaar was set up both as an income generation programme and to offer alternative employment to women choosing to leave the bars. Making jewellery and soft toys at Rahab enables the women to make something beautiful out of their lives that have been ugly and hard. It is also a time to build new relationships.

ITDP is making a real difference in the lives of many hill tribe people in Northern Thailand. They have been involved there for many years and are committed to helping these people holistically. By providing for their physical needs and helping lift them out of their lifestyle of poverty with the water and sanitation projects and the micro-loan programmes, they have built good relationships with a number of villages and have established an excellent platform to continue to send teachers and church planters into these areas.

Rahab House Any women who choose to stop working in the bars at Patpong are offered alternative accommodation at Rahab House. It is run on Christian values and provides a family atmosphere and support as the women regain confidence in themselves. Some families are reunited as children who have been back in the villages come to live with their mothers.

Educating children is a vital ingredient to lifting the hill tribe people out of their life of poverty. With an education these village children will have better opportunities to enter Thai society. They will be able to get citizenship, enter universities and have access to better jobs.

Discipleship and Training Twice a week they run a Bible study and offer counselling and discipleship, and on Fridays, English classes are taught. These classes are also open to any bar girls wishing to attend.

With the exception of Mike and Becky, all of the ITDP staff are indigenous to Thailand or one of the hill tribe groups, which we think is important to their long-term success. 7

Feature article

Rahab Ministries

A group of NZ churches (City Bible Church, Mt Albert Baptist and St Andrews Waipukurau) are working together under the name Hill Tribe Hope (www.hilltribehope. co.nz), to reach a cluster of hill tribe villages, including Kree Maw Kee. There we were able to see projects that they had completed (water supply, sanitation, and a large school building), as well as carry out a video interview with the recently employed pre-school teacher (Apaporn), on behalf of Hill Tribe Hope. You can see this video at www.facebook. com/hilltribehope.

Next we visited the Good News Team who spread the good news of Jesus to hundreds of thousands of children all over Thailand. The gospel is powerful, touching hearts and changing not only the lives of children but the lives of their friends, parents and those they know. This project is bringing hope to children and is beginning to break the cycle of injustice with just a simple magazine, correspondence and the giving of Bibles. The magazines they produce are high quality, are fun to read and the children love them. The GNT staff is small yet they are able to respond to every letter they receive. They are very positive about discipling those in the correspondence courses so that their faith will grow and mature.

House of Hope Next, we visited Prasert, at the House of Hope, where for six years, she has run a variety of ministries to the local slum community where the house is situated. This includes bible studies, English classes and music lessons, as well as an after-school children’s programme, and a well-stocked children’s library. A small church has also been planted there. She also responds to local needs, by helping to supply items such as school uniforms and supplies. A new opportunity has also arisen to visit the 500+ retirees in the community, who are very isolated.

The Good News Team is working in a variety of ways to spread the gospel of Jesus and to help the poor: Public School Evangelism Each month, a team heads out to a new group of (Buddhist) state schools, in partnership with a local church in that area, where they share the good news about Jesus with the children through drama, puppets and music. The team is always well received, often being asked to return again! The children are then given a magazine, and invited to sign up to the correspondence course (which they almost all do).

Church Planting Movement Finally, the last visit of our trip was to see Jon and Nok, who lead the Church Planting Movement (CPM). CPM is a rapid multiplication of church growth that sweeps through a people group or a segment of a population and which produces many new, small local churches. Since 2009 Jon and Nok have been training new believers how to share their testimony with their own family and friends. This began a stream of new believers and new churches to the point that the converts are baptising former Thai Buddhists every single day. Over four hundred churches have been planted through this movement, who have seen more than 12,000 Thais come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Since 1981, up to 300,000 comic book type magazines are printed every year and distributed to all of the schools the Good News Team visits. Correspondence Course Through the correspondence course, hundreds of thousands of children across Thailand are learning the hope of Jesus as they are encouraged in their faith by the GNT staff. The correspondence course consists of 24 different lessons that are broken down into three course studies. Upon completion of the first course children receive a New Testament. When a child becomes a Christian they are then linked with a local church in their area. Nearly every day they receive at least one letter from someone who has become a Christian or is excited about their new life in Christ. This project has a huge impact on Thai children and their communities.

our new partners After what seemed like quite an epic journey, we returned home, and shared our experience with BotanyLife’s leadership team. As a result of our discussions we are excited about progressing partnerships with three of the projects we visited: • ITDP - An outstanding Development project, with a holistic approach that we love.

Prison Correspondence Course

• R ahab Ministries - An amazing opportunity to engage in a project with a strong Justice focus.

Prisoners are given the same cartoon magazine that is used in the public schools. Many of the inmates become Christians through these magazines.

• G ood News Team - An inspiring team of high quality people, with a strong emphasis on Evangelism, especially amongst children.

Halfway House Our next stop was Chuenjit’s Halfway House. Chuenjit has been working since 2004 with highly ‘at-risk’ young people (14-17 year olds) in the Youth Detention Centre north of Bangkok. She visits three times per week and conducts Bible studies as well as teaching them basic life skills.

Our next step is to assemble a great team of people around Owen, as the leader of the Global/National outreach team, and to plan our next moves globally!

Feature article

Chuenjit has set-up a half-way house so she can continue to support these young people after they come out of the remand home, generally from between three months to a year. She helps them develop life skills and supports them as they reintegrate into study or work. She has also started taking 10-14 year olds on a weekend basis, as a trial, to get them out of the youth remand centre, to help reduce the influence from older kids.

Good News Team

The Story of

Text by Owen Jennings.

La Mai Coffee I

We found:

t was so hot and humid that Niran decided to offer the hitchhiker a ride. It turned out he was an American. They were both going to the same remote village in the hills in north Thailand. Niran enquired as to his reasons for going to such a primitive, poor area. “I am buying young girls for a Bangkok bar”. Completely stunned, Niran ordered him out of his ute and hurried to the village to warn the parents.

• Varying estimates of the numbers involved but the UN and ECPAT believe there are 60,000 underage girls trapped in prostitution now in Bangkok alone. Total numbers maybe as high as 400,000. • Girls (and boys) are sold for around the equivalent of two years income for a rural family.

He called the village together and told them of the horrors their children would encounter if they took the American’s offer. Heads were bowed and eye contact avoided. Niran knew he faced an uphill battle. The parents would be offered at least two years income for a daughter - an enticing amount when you are poor and when girls are not really wanted anyway.

• The use of prostitutes by Thai men is rife as well as the huge US $4billion tourist trade dominated by men seeking girls - often underage.

Niran was penniless but he made the villagers an offer. He would raise enough money to equal the American’s offer, give them the money and let them keep their girls. He raced back to his home, raised the money and reached the village too late there were no girls left over the age of 10.

• Loan sharks get families into debt and then demand a daughter earn her keep in the bars, sending home the money they earned.

• Poor families want sons, not daughters who are seen as a cost. Daughters are taught to please their parents whatever the cost.

• Girls can earn up to US$5 - $10 a day/night total hooking up with up to 20 men. Most of the money goes to a bar owner.

It was that true story that helped motivate Bright Hope World to launch La Mai coffee.

• Bangkok airport has the biggest ratio of male to female passengers of any world airport.

Around the same time I was on a visit to north Thailand researching the ITDP organisation. They were a potential partner for Bright Hope on several projects. They were launching a coffee growing project in the hills among the very poor villages - people earning less than a dollar a day. The aim was to replace opium poppy growing with coffee production. Surprisingly the locals made little money from the drug trade - it all went to middle men.

Bright Hope also realised that if it was to play a part in combating child prostitution, even a small part, it needed to tackle the problem on two fronts. Firstly, girls already trapped in the ghastly business needed help to escape. Secondly, there needed to be a long term strategy about prevention - making sure families understood the unacceptable nature of any prostitution let alone underage selling of girls, but also that they had sufficient income to not have any need to make the sale.

Coffee plants like altitude, shade, heat, humidity and careful attention to detail in growing and processing. The local tribal people proved adept at managing the whole process and many thousands of coffee bushes were planted and tended.

Coffee was an ideal vehicle for achieving those ends. Growing coffee in cooperatives among the poor villages in the hills where the girls come from and getting above Fair Trade prices meant more income for families and less need to sell girls. By marketing the coffee, Bright Hope could put the profits back into organisations committed to rescuing girls off the streets and out of the bars.

It was the shock of walking through the village while on this trip, finding almost no girls over age ten and questioning the villagers as to why they had sold their daughters that led to the decision to join ITDP in a coffee project. We decided to also do some research. 10

outreach

to come to faith. Many do. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dangerous work. They have been firebombed and threatened.

So, La Mai was born. The name refers to something acceptable, especially food or drink. And so it is. La Mai is a very high quality coffee bean ideal for the western palate. It is shade grown, hand picked and hand sorted. The selection process for the beans is rigorous. The beans are roasted in Christchurch by a Christian company with a heap of experience. It is a high quality product even for the most discerning connoisseur. Bright Hope markets La Mai in New Zealand, Australia and the USA.

The change in the girls is one of the most enduring and powerful testimonies to Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grace, the efficacy of the gospel but also the depths of despair and degradation suffered by the girls. Many barely exist, in dirty, rat-infested, damp conditions, working long hours, forced to go with often ugly, brutal and selfish men demanding unspeakable acts and torture. Each girl rescued is a triumph of mercy, a trophy of grace, a diamond plucked from the filth.

It was heartening returning recently with Brad and Mark to the villages that first started planting coffee. One village now has electricity, schooling, health clinics and a vibrant church. They were quick to point out that all the people in the village had come to Christ. There will be no more girls being sold from that village. We saw other villages committing to planting and managing large areas of coffee. The extra income will also see new services introduced. It is immensely satisfying.

If BotanyLife is serious about injustice and reaching the needy in Thailand it will need you and I to make some changes. You may have to be prepared to forgo your favourite coffee brand for one that will make a difference in the lives of these trapped but beautiful, innocent girls; you may have to buy coffee at an inconvenient time - not simply while at the supermarket; you may have to share the story at work so La Mai gets to be in the kitchen or canteen; you may have to work hard to convince family and friends to change to La Mai. But what price a soul? What cost a release from the most inhumane and destructive humiliation on earth?

Down in Bangkok we visited Rahab Ministries. They are working in the very centre of the red light district, taking a message of hope and a new life to the bar girls. There are over 4,000 in that suburb alone. When a girl shows some spiritual interest they are offered counselling, training and encouraged 11

“What are we doing?”

I hear you ask... Text by Abby Smith.

outreach

Community Project 2014 at Pigeon Mountain Primary School.

“What are we actually going to do?” I hear you ask...

Come for the day on Saturday and Sunday afternoon... “what about Sunday morning?” I hear you ask... Well you would normally be at church, right? Only now the church venue has changed ... it is at Pigeon Mountain Primary School... and maybe don’t look as glamorous as usual... but PLEASE come – it is so so worth it!

HEAPS... but for a taster: creating new pathways, tree pruning and planting, repair work, constructing a stage, building an outdoor classroom space, painting (both creative and repair) and lots more.

“What about the kids?” I hear you ask...

One of our key church values is a commitment to Being a “Go and Do” Church. This is the primary motivation behind this and all of our previous community projects. It is also probably the best way to meet people at church and be able to get alongside the local community as they come and help too.

“Why do we do this again?” I hear you ask...

You will find awesome kids programmes all weekend for them (my kids had a BLAST last year). “What about my wife?” I hear you ask...

“What now?”...

Tell her amazing food is provided for all, all weekend long... no meals to prepare (that was a definite encourager for me to go!).

Sign up at church and come along with the family... quality family time, whilst being able to know that you are helping out the community and blessing them with God’s love.

“What about my husband?” I hear you ask... He can hang out with his mates to garden and build stuff... that actually gets completed in said weekend... a great sense of accomplishment for him!

Any more questions? No? See you there.

“What if I am no good at handyman stuff?” I hear you ask... No problem. There is a place for everyone to serve. All of us can fit ourselves into at least one of the following teams: Construction / Gardening / Painting / Kids programme / Food service / Celebration

10 years

The Middle Years Nov 19th 2007 Apr 1st 2007

Feb 4th 2007 Steve Young affirmed as new elder at BotanyLife

Café evening at Robert Harris, Botany – “Sex and the Suburbs”

Aug 31st 2007 First mainly music Fathers’ Day evening

Arrangement agreed with The Lighthouse Church in Masterton to begins filming sermons for their church services

June 6th 2007 Feb 15th 2007 First SaLT group begins meeting over two years

Elders agree to pursue investigating setting up a community trust

March 22nd, 2008

May 12th 2008 Amy Mountfort goes Hannah Stevenson to be with Jesus goes to be with Jesus

Dec 19th 2007 Oct 7th 2007 Rugby World Cup outreach; All Blacks lose quarterfinal

Elders receive a report from the building taskforce proposing a strategy for purchasing a facility

Apr 13th 2008 Wine and Cheese Sunday in John 2:1-12

May 19th – 20th 2007 Feb 11th 2007 Vision Sunday: “Get Connected” preaching series through Numbers

Community project re-visiting Riverina School, Pakuranga Intermediate and Riverhills School

May 23rd 2008

Oct 28th 2007

Leadership Café to discuss Imagine Building Campaign

“RE:marriage” preaching series begins for six weeks

June 10th 2007 Re:imagine vision service

Mar 24th 2007 First Frontrow Fishing outreach event

Dec 10th 2007 BotanyLife Community Trust is formally established with five trustees: Neil Blizard, Andrew Creahan, Liesl Kenrick, Shona Manihera and Mark van Wijk

Apr 5th – 6th 2008 Community project at Botany Downs School, Botany

Apr 15th 2008 Mangetepopo tragedy; Natasha Bray goes to be with Jesus

Sept 9th 2007 First “Mealmates” Sunday lunch

Feb 10th 2008

Vision Sunday: “The One and Only” preaching series in John 1-12

10 years

(2007 – 2010) Aug 8th 2010

July 27th 2008 Launch of our new youth ministries: Xchange for intermediate youth led by Mike and Rachael Read, and ALTR for high school with Mel Wilson

June 3rd 2008 Mel Wilson starts as first intern at BotanyLife serving ALTR youth

June 7th 2009 Kids programs begin Dec 21st 2009 meeting from 10am rather than starting Christmas Family Service “Christmas in big church Close Up”

Feb 8th 2009 BK (primary-aged kids) begins new Elevate curriculum with first 8-week series “Spy Chase”

Nov 16th 2008 Proverbs preaching series “Sharpen Up” begins for 5 weeks

Aug 13th 2009

May 24th 2009 First journal produced to accompany preaching series in Acts

Feb 17th 2009

New young adult ministry “Launch” begins

“Scripture” preaching series begins for 4 weeks

June 19th 2010

Joint meeting between elders, trustees and building search team to discuss search criteria for a building

“Scanning the Nov 21st 2010 Old Testament” “Smart Money” seminar with preaching series Living Stones begins for 4 weeks

Sept 26th 2008 Leadership Café discussion of new 3-year vision for 2009-2011

June 22nd 2008 Imagine Building Sunday to launch the building fund

Feb 15th 2009 Vision Sunday: “Missionz” preaching series in Acts 1-12; new 3-year “Flourishing” vision shared

July 2nd 2009

June 25th 2010

New SaLT group begins meeting for next two years

Trial of new marriage outreach event “2’s Company”

Aug 9th 2010 Nov 15th 2009 “Gourmet Parenting” preaching series begins for 5 weeks

Dec 20th 2008 First SaLT group graduates from SaLT program

Apr 9th – 13th 2009 ALTR high school youth attend BYM Easter Camp for the first time

Proposed building purchase on Trugood Dr, East Tamaki falls through

Feb 7th 2010

Mar 28th – 29th 2009 Community project at Elm Park School, Pakuranga

Vision Sunday: “Truth” preaching series through Judges, 2 Timothy

Dec 19th 2010 First “Jesus’ Birthday Party” outreach event for families at Christmas

leadership spotlight

Robin & Sonia Byrne Worship and Groups Pastor

Text by Max Carr.

Tell us a little about your school prowess.

obin and Sonia Byrne have been part of BotanyLife since the very beginning. They were one of the five couples that served as the original leadership team for the church plant, and then Robin was one of the inaugural elders of the church. After leading the worship ministry as a volunteer for the last decade, Robin has recently joined the staff team fulltime as our new Worship and Groups Pastor.

Robin: That’s simple, it was sport, sport, sport. Sonia: For me it was ‘socialising’. I passed with flying colours. When and where did your get married and what was your fondest memory of that day.

Please let us in on your backgrounds just a little.

Sonia: We were married at the Mill Valley Ranch in Melbourne. The transport was a horse and cart. My brother was married two weeks before us and his was a traditional wedding and we wanted to somehow make it different.

Robin: I was brought up in Kent, England. My father is English but my Mum is from Finland. I have one older brother and my passion as a kid was to be a policeman but later that switched to sport involvement of some sort.

Robin: My fondest memory was the great wedding speech my Dad made by phone from England because he just couldn’t make the trip down under.

Sonia: I am the youngest of four and am NZ born and bred. I was brought up in the Bay of Plenty. My Dad was a pastor, so was involved in various churches over the years, but he passed away in 2000 and Mum later re-married to another pastor.

Sonia: Mine was that Robin sang and played the guitar as I walked down the aisle. How many children do you have and what are their early dreams?

How did you both meet and was it “love at first sight”? Well we met in Switzerland. I (Sonia) was attending a ski school with my sister and this young man seemed to almost deliberately run into us on the slopes. We got chatting and he confessed he had never spoken to a “Kiwi” before. Sonia thought he was a bit of a “poser” and she only really wanted to head for home in Australia. The relationship developed to the extent interest grew on both sides but Sonia made her point well when she said to Robin, “If you want to get to know me, come to Australia.” Robin took that as a personal invite and told Mum and Dad he was emigrating to Oz land. Things warmed over the next few months and... well, you know the rest!!

There was Bjorn born first. He is now 14 and is interested in acting. Next came Jai and he is now 10 and wants to be involved in music. He loves the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” and wants to be able to play the piano faster than it is done in the movie. Lastly there came Milla, who is now 7 and just loves animals. Can you fill us in a little on your work history to date? Robin: I left school early and worked in a factory making kitchens but soon got out of that and started working with children who had learning disabilities. I spent a year with 16

leadership spotlight

What are your hobbies?

the “Oasis Trust” working with small churches in inner-city London. In New Zealand I joined a local tennis club and helped out the resident coach during holidays. I eventually graduated to become Head Tennis Coach at Cockle Bay and then at Gladstone Tennis Club at Parnell.

Robin: I love exercise challenges. I’m aiming to do 150 push ups without a break and I also love rock fishing - when and if time permits. Sonia: As time frees up next year (kids heading to school!!!) I want to be more involved in photography and I love a great book!!

Sonia: I enjoyed a working holiday in England for 1 ½ years. After returning to N.Z, I studied Early Childhood Education at Auckland Teachers College. I worked at a private preschool in Mt Eden, and then took on the role as a Play Specialist at Starship Hospital and Manukau Superclinic. Oh and somewhere in all this history we were hosts at Totara Springs Camp and Robin worked as Youth and Worship Pastor at Auckland Bible Church. For the last 9 years I’ve been homeschooling our kids.

If you could meet and chat with any Bible character (other than Jesus) who would that be? Robin: I would love to sit down and chat with Abraham. “How come your faith was so strong as you were going to go through with the sacrifice of your own son?”

What has been your spiritual journey so far in life?

Sonia: I would like to meet Joshua (I think his faith would be inspirational) and also with Noah. I really want to know more of the details of that ‘boat trip’.

Robin: I gave my life to Christ when I was 17. My Mum and Dad - even though not of the same persuasion - were thrilled but didn’t think it would last. They noticed the change in my life though because I was a bit of a ‘hard case’ before Christ found me.

What are your favourite hymns/songs and what is the message they convey to you? Robin: Well now that’s tough as there are so many, but I think it would have to be “How Great Is Our God.” It’s a modern hymn that puts God in such great perspective.

Sonia: I was brought up in Christian home and trusted in Christ at a young age. I’ve had close Christian friends in my life that have encouraged me spiritually through life’s challenges.

Sonia: Anything to do with Heaven. My Dad’s there and that adds something special to these type of songs. 17

A Place to Shine

Update Text by Brad Carr.

Thanks MMM!

I have to say it has been an absolute pleasure to work with all of the volunteers from MMM. They have worked incredibly hard over these last few weeks, and their work ethic has shone through. Their servant-heartedness, cheerfulness, commitment to excellence and willingness to do whatever was needed has been an incredible blessing. They have been a real model of what Paul wrote about in Colossians 3:23.

I have just walked back into my office after popping downstairs once again to see the progress of the community centre fitout. It’s been a journey I have been making a few times a day since the team from MMM (Mobile Missionary Maintenance) joined us to help with the fitout a few weeks ago.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

And the progress has been incredible! In the last four weeks the community centre space has been gutted; footings have been cut into the floor and concreted; posts and beams have gone up; all of the framing for the internal walls are in place; the mezzanine floor has been installed; the internal stairs have been constructed by re-using and extending the old stairs; and the first layers of gib board are up. All of this is due to the hard work and effort of the MMM team, with some assistance from volunteers from BotanyLife.

I also want to acknowledge and say thanks to all of the BotanyLife people who have contributed to this fitout over the past four weeks as well. We have had around twenty people assisting with the construction on Saturday’s or during the week, some of them coming back to serve for multiple days. We have also been blessed by the large number of people who have generously provided morning and afternoon teas and lunches for the MMM workers 18

link those spaces, and installing a small kitchen in the new upstairs meeting room. Our dream would be to have all of that completed by Christmas so we can move into the offices and start using the meeting room.

So what next? Well, MMM have now finished up with us and have started into their next project with a church in Rotorua. Meanwhile, we are taking a break from the community centre fitout for a few weeks, as we swing our focus and energies onto this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community project at Pigeon Mountain School on 13th-14th September. We want to make sure that we put a great deal of quality and time into the planning and execution of the project.

That means early next year we will then swing the focus back downstairs to stage 4 of the fitout, which is completing the foyer, bathrooms and main kitchen, with the large auditorium being the 5th and final stage to be completed sometime later in 2015. Thanks so much for your continued support, encouragement, practical assistance and financial generosity. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been really pleasing to see the donations for the building fitout keeping pace with the original pledges, and we are expecting about another $35,000 this year and another $80,000 next year. If you have joined BotanyLife since we made our pledges, or you never made a pledge originally, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still very welcome to contribute to the building fund as well, over and above your regular giving (the account # is 12-3060-0305117-52).

Once the community project is out of the way, we will then be working hard on completing the offices and meeting room on the mezzanine floor. All the framing for the walls are up in this area, but over the coming months we need to add electricity, data cables, air-conditioning, gib board, plaster and paint, ceiling panels and carpet. As part of that process, we will also be knocking down part of the wall between our current offices and the mezzanine floor to

community centre

(and for the staff occasionally!). And I want to especially mention the generosity of Grant and Pauline Waters, and David and Merilyn Griffiths, for opening their homes and billeting some of the MMM team for the last four weeks.

Text by Larissa Sproul.

8 sessions, 5 speakers, 3 days Switch On Camp 2014 was once again a great success. This year the book of the Bible we studied was 1 Peter. We were challenged to have a clear mind, to be alert and to know that we live in a spiritual battlefield.

Switch On

This year was my fifth Switch On camp. These camps are an awesome time of fellowship, teaching and fun. This year we also had the special occasion of a Baptism - Jonty Birch who has been coming to the camp for a number of years was baptised in the pouring rain on Saturday morning. It was funny because we were talking about how the world may see Christians as crazy - I think we managed to prove that! It was cold and miserable as our group of 40 or so stood on the beach with water leaking into our shoes singing “Amazing Grace,” watching someone go out into the ocean to get dunked then when he came in we were all rejoicing... Enough to make someone wonder what on earth we were thinking!

By Emma Spro

As well as the serious side of things there were the games of soccer (in the rain and mud), riding four wheelers (in the mud), the odd swim by some crazy people (in the rain), games of mafia, charades and of course the famous bonfire under the stars (which were behind the clouds!). Look out for details of Switch On for July 2015! It is a fantastic time of encouragement and challenges me every year in my relationship with God as well as being a great place to build friendships. Look forward to seeing you there! 20

2014

Excited chatter is heard As we are abou t to begin stud ying God’s w Smiles and la ord ughter are vivi dly seen As we run on the muddy pa tch of green Mud creeps in to every place As we all play soccer in a m uddy space Never ending jokes and puns And all kinds of pranks from the pastor’s so We learnt that ns we should liv e for the destin For in heaven ation we have a rese rvation We worked ou r way throug h First Peter Finding out G od’s grace is sw eeter The rain cont inued to com e But that didn ’t stop of us fr om having fu We all gather n ed round the fli ckering flames Singing and pl aying various games The bonfire w as again a hit With everyone laughing arou nd the pit Accompanied by Al’s never ending humou Including Blac r k Pete’s lunch rumour What better w ay to spend a weekend Than on the co ast with pray er s to send Knowing that God is with us till the end

youth

the

f you were 4 or 5 years old, we would find you on a Sunday at BotanyLife in the Orchard.

Text by Mel Palmer.

Do you remember what it was like to be four or five? Were you a child who loved sandpits, climbing trees and getting dirty? Or were you one who loved dressing up your Cabbage Patch kid and having a tea party? Do you remember a time when you were curious... about everything? Four and five year olds are naturally curious. They want to know stuff. They have questions. They are little sponges ready to soak up information about the world around them. At BotanyLife we love these little sponges and know that God loves them too. We want to ensure that the programmes we offer them satisfy their curiosity and grab their attention in a way that enables them to soak in the truths of the Bible and ask the questions we want them to ask. Does God love me? Yes he does.

Upsidedown Town is one of the very creative 8-week units that the Elevate team have designed. This term, the children in the Orchard are hearing stories from Genesis... from creation through to the story of Abraham. “Come one come all, whether big or small, Whether summer or winter, or spring or fall.

Out in the Orchard our curriculum Elevate Jnr is designed to do just that: to grab the attention of 4-5 years olds, and take them on a fun journey of biblical learning. It utilises fantastic animations, puppets, music and graphics and teaches children how to apply Bible concepts and stories to their everyday lives. And BotanyLife is super blessed with a fabulous group of teachers (Ianthe Jones, Shellene Garofalakis, Kylie Osborne and Susan Leong) who bring the curriculum alive for these eager littlies.

Join Jennie and Bobby, and a host of friends, As they solve the problems to happy ends. Along the way they learn to live, The way God wants - like give and forgive.

My son Jedd is one of the little people you might meet in the Orchard. He LOVES it. Each week he comes home telling me about what he has learnt about the Bible and about God. Last week he was super excited. He ran up to me and said, “We are doing Upsidedown Town, Mummy”. He showed me the little book he had decorated and proceeded to tell me the story of creation from the pictures he had coloured.

Keep your spirits up and get ready to get down, As we all have fun in Upsidedown Town!” Don’t you just wish you could be 4 again? 22

childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ministry

Text by Mel Thorburn.

about the movie, which the muddled shopkeeper Cathy referred to as she unpacked boxes. But there were some very astute kids amongst the crowd, as they questioned some of the claims the movie makes, like Lord Business creating and controlling the world and Emmett being the “special” who then saves the world. With the assistance of the Lego Brick Bible, shopkeeper Brendan puts the kids on the right track, explaining the differences about the claims in the movie versus the reality of the Bible and who in fact created the world and then saved everybody. But not before we’d all had a good sing along to the movie’s theme song EVERYTHING IS AWESOME! And along the way we found several pairs of Lego people’s pants hidden around the PAC, unpacked a full Emmett costume from the boxes in the warehouse, conducted a team Lego tower building competition, and announced a winner of the guess-howmany-Lego-bricks game from the Lego store.

hat is Lego Church you ask? Well, obviously you weren’t there. And for those that were - we can say it was an experience like no other! The Lego movie was released earlier this year and the creative minds of the church staff team jumped on this opportunity to enlighten both young and old about the true “story of a nobody who saved everybody” at this year’s family service. For one morning, the gym at Botany Downs Secondary College was transformed into a Lego store, complete with shopkeepers in yellow aprons, boxed Lego sets (the illusion of anyway!), a Lego themed games arena and even an in-store competition to guess-the-number-of-bricks. Travelling around the various coloured Lego brick stations, kids could get their photo snapped with a cardboard cut-out of the Lego Movie cast, design their very own mini-figure (on paper), create an edible yellow Lego brick, catapult Lego bricks at a castle wall, throw batman batarangs at the red button, use a pool noodle light sabre to keep their balloon afloat and walk the Lego brick planks whilst avoiding shark infested gym-floors. Such fun! But where does the story of a nobody who saved everybody come in you might wonder? The answer was to follow, through in the warehouse at the back-of-the-shop...

In keeping with the Lego Movie theme, the morning tea on offer after the service consisted of Rainbow Kitty pink hundred-and-thousand biscuits and over-priced coffee (thankfully that was not actually endorsed!). If much of this floated over your head during the service, don’t worry. We know that you will have walked away with that annoying little ditty of EVERYTHING IS AWESOME! But hopefully that was not the only message that stuck. I think our annual family service fulfilled its aim to bring the gospel message to both adults and kids in a fun, yet unique fashion. Jesus really is the nobody, who became a somebody, in order to save everybody. And aren’t we stoked he did!

Enter Lego store workers Cathy and Brendan Downey-Parish (yes that was indeed them under the wigs & hats). In order to find one of the new Lego Movie sets for a customer, we followed them through to the back of the shop, into what appeared to be a warehouse stage-set in the Performing Arts Centre (PAC), where there were boxes galore! It then became apparent who had and had not seen the movie! Kids began to shout answers to questions 24

family service

community groups

Community Groups Text by Brad Carr.

An interview with Robin Byrne, our new Worship and Groups Pastor What excites you about leading our Community Group ministry here at BotanyLife? One thing that really excites me, is being involved in a ministry that I know God is incredibly passionate about. In the trinity, God exists as community and he created us in His image, to be in and for community. In our small groups here at BotanyLife, people are encouraged, challenged, taught, prayed and cared for and authentic relationships built. As we are a fairly large and growing church, being part of a Community Group is key to not getting “lost in the crowd”! I also have to say, we have some incredibly giving and wonderful people who lead our groups here at BotanyLife. It’s going to be a real privilege working with and supporting them in any way I can to help them in their roles as group leaders.

What would you love to see happen in our community groups at BotanyLife over the next couple of years? As we continue to grow as a church I would love to see more and more people involved in Community Groups. In fact, I would love for everyone to be connected! As we have such a diverse group of people (nationalities, backgrounds, work, interests, stage of life etc.) the challenge, and something I’m passionate about, is being more and more strategic in helping people find groups where they fit best and will thrive the most! I’m really looking forward to getting to know people in our church community better and better so I can help achieve this. Our mission statement is to “passionately love God and purposefully love others”. Here at BotanyLife we have had a significant number of people trusting in Christ through either being involved in a group or being part of an outreach

event which has been organised and run by our community groups. This is exciting! Over the next couple of years I would love to work more closely with our groups to help them more “purposefully love others.” What would you say to someone at BotanyLife not currently involved in a community group? Because God is eternally one, when He created us in His image, He created us for oneness. In a large and growing church like ours, that “oneness” is best achieved within a small group. We want to be a church where nobody stands alone! Come and see me or get in contact with me. I would love to help you connect with people where you can discover, thrive and shine together (Rom12:4-5).

Who’s that?

Rebecca Wake Text by Steph van Wijk.

beginning her journey into adulthood knowing who Jesus is the one she serves and being serious about her faith. Along this journey she had a small group leader who mentored her and the other girls from her youth group helping her to mature her faith. She was also surrounded by other young people who were on fire for God.

eet Rebecca Wake . . . fun, enthusiastic, joyful, friendly, thoughtful, committed.

Meeting up with Rebecca was a pleasure. Seeing her energy, FULL schedule, easy going nature, her bubbly personality, her love for God and her dreams for the future, I got a small insight into this beautiful girl, whose focus is on the one she calls her Lord. It was a joy to see her life focused on investing in others - from the little ones she looks after in the Forest and the children she will one day teach and care for, through to the ALTR high school youth and her dreams of loving orphans in Africa.

When Rebecca’s parents were checking out BotanyLife Rebecca continued to go to her old church. She started coming along to BotanyLife with her parents, while still going to her small group from her old church. She felt unsure of what to do about the two churches she was involved in and eventually gave this problem over to God. A few days later she felt led to fully connect into BotanyLife and since then she has dived in boots and all!

Rebecca (Bec or Becky) is the third child of Jenny and Alan Wake. Rebecca has two older sisters - Rach (Rachael - a nurse) and Miss (Melissa - who works in adult education). She also has a younger brother Mitch (Mitchell) who is in year 10 at Botany College.

Rebecca has a passion for children and for youth, and dreams of one day working in an orphanage in Africa or possibly becoming a youth pastor. At BotanyLife, she first became involved in the Garden and Greenhouse (in our BotanyKids ministry), but this year has moved into the Forest and now is enjoying leading the Year 1 small group. Rebecca also helps out with ALTR (high school youth group) leading a group of Year 9-11 girls. Being involved in youth group has been something she has had a heart to do for some time and she loves connecting with these girls.

Rebecca was born in Wellington, and moved to Auckland when she was 7. She went to Point View School, Somerville Intermediate and Botany College and is currently at Auckland University, in her second year studying for her Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood. Rebecca has quite a lot of energy. Not only is she a full time student, she also does relieving at an early childhood centre on days when she doesn’t have classes. On Saturday’s you will find her jumping around at the latest kids (and adults) premier indoor trampoline park - ‘Jump’. Rebecca’s job is looking after groups who come to ‘Jump’ for birthday parties. I also know that occasionally she is up to the early hours of the mornings finishing assignments for her course.

Rebecca loves Mango Sorbet from Kiwi Yo, and her Mum’s cheese cake. She enjoys listening to Hillsong, Taylor Swift and One Direction. To relax Rebecca enjoys watching movies - especially the One Direction Movie, which she encourages everyone to watch. She has loves holidaying in Australia with her family. Rebecca is living a full life, a wonderful life - full of fun, people and passion. She is a young woman whose heart is focused on God. She lives out BotanyLife’s mission - to passionately love God and purposely love others.

Rebecca’s journey of faith began when she was only a few days old and her parents took her to church. She remembers around the age of 5 or 6 making a decision to follow Jesus. In year nine she recommitted her life to Jesus, 27

Who’s that?

Bryn Thomp & Bec son Text by Tricia Stevenson.

ryn and Rebecca Thompson joined BotanyLife in April 2009. They’d heard BotanyLife’s Lead Pastor, Brad Carr, speak at a Christmas camp at Totara Springs Camp near Matamata. Visiting the church soon after, they loved the teaching and friendliness, found that it was a good fit for them and their four children, it was not long before they were fully integrated into the BotanyLife Church family.

It was when Bryn and Bec met at Medical School when both became involved with the Medical School Christian Fellowship. After a string of coincidences, and consistent signs of compatibility, they eventually fell in love. I particularly liked their story of inadvertently turning up to the same Dress-up Ball as Queen Esther and King Xerxes. Now that they are married, and have four children in the mix, I asked what sort of holidays they enjoy. Bryn and Bec answered spontaneously and contradictorily; Bryn likes a full-on holiday with plenty of action, and Bec likes to have time to relax. This explains why they are drawn to Totara Springs – it’s a place well suited to doing both of those things as well as offering a happy array of activities for kids in any age group to enjoy.

The Thompson’s come with plenty of talent and energy that they share as part of their service to the church. Rebecca, or Bec, joined the worship team as a back-up vocalist in 2009. Her beautiful voice and skill as a musician is evident when she is on stage. Bec is now one of the main worship leaders alongside Robin Byrne in the worship team. She has also been a part of Chickzone for a number of years.

In fact, Totara Springs is where I first encountered the Thompsons, as fellow campers back before they had joined BotanyLife. I remember admiring their commitment to camping when I noticed Bec climbing out of their tent with their daughter, Amber, then just a wee baby, followed by her three young boys.

Bryn’s talents and energy have gone into serving in the BotanyKids Ministry. He has had a variety of roles but is currently one of the Big Group teachers in the Forest. When I asked about their journeys to faith in Jesus, Bec told me she grew up in a Christian family and can’t recall exactly when she became a Christian. She does however remember being baptised when she was about 10. Specifically, she remembers wearing a white robe for the occasion. Bryn also grew up in a Christian home but can recall the very moment he committed his life to Christ at a large Christian rally in 1987.

Their kids are older now. Caleb and Dominic, who are 12 and 11 respectively, attend their dad’s old school, Bucklands Beach Intermediate. Toby, eight, and Amber, five, also go to one of their dad’s old schools, Bucklands Beach Primary.

Who’s that? segment on Newstalk ZB every second Saturday at 10:25am. The show that was hosted at first by Mike Hosking, then the late Paul Holmes, and is now goes on air with Jack Tame.

The kids do plenty to keep mum and dad busy. Caleb plays football (soccer) and hockey, as well as swimming and running. He enjoys reality TV shows about home renovations and cooking and is a Chelsea Football Club fan. Dominic also plays football, and does swimming, running, and table tennis. He enjoys similar TV programs as Caleb, but is a Manchester United fan. Younger brother Toby plays football too; he has chosen Manchester City to back. He also likes to write stories, read, and play tricks and jokes on people when he is not on the field. Amber, as if prompted by her name (her initials are ART), loves art, dancing, playing dress-ups, doing cartwheels, playing on the monkey bars and making loom bands. This little princess (daughter of Queen Esther) is a Liverpool fan (she thought she should choose a football team too!).

They both work as GPs in local practices but try to work at different times to each other keeping time available for the kids should there be trips or sick days to cover. Bryn enjoys photography and long walks – often trying to convince the family to share his passion. While he loves to read and “always has something on the go, or ten”, Bec finds holidays the best time to indulge in books. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to get to know the Thompsons better, and left their house recently on one thick foggy night with a recipe on how to make Sesame Spinach & Coconut Rice (stolen from the My-Food-Bag repertoire the Thompsons are “giving a crack”), and the recommendation to read The Kite Runner and other books by Khaled Hosseini. I found the Thompsons make a likeable, admirable, and an exotic couple (Bec tells me her stunning looks are derived from her Indian, English, Italian and Dane ancestry).

It’s not surprising the kids are so active. The couple have a knack of keeping busy. As well as church life, it seems Bec has always been involved with music; she was in a band while she was at medical school. After some busy postgraduate years, Bryn headed to England where he joined Youth with a Mission (YWAM) which included a three month placement with the organisation in Brazil.

Along with taxiing their four children to school, sports and other activities, and being active participants at BotanyLife, I suspect life remains rather busy. I also suspect that is exactly how they like it.

Later when Bryn returned to New Zealand, he worked on the TV series ‘Family Confidential’, a documentary show that ran in 2002. For the last eight years he has been doing a regular health 29

marriage / parenting

The Small Things Text by Nikki Bray

Andy and Nikki Bray are foundation members of BotanyLife, being part of the original leadership team that started the church in 2004. Together the Bray’s lead Familylife, a ministry which is dedicated to showing couples God’s plan for marriage and family. Through one day seminars and inspiring weekend conferences, Familylife presents biblical, proven principles to help people stay happily committed and continually growing for a lifetime of oneness.

ast year Shaunti Feldhahn wrote a new book called “The Surprising Secrets Of Highly Happy Marriages”.

on a job well done, make him a cup of tea and when I join him outside when he’s gardening it speaks love and care to him. When Andy takes me out for coffee, brings me home some Maltesers (my favourites), cleans the toilets, thanks me for doing the washing and calls me in the day I feel loved and cared for.

After interviewing over a thousand happily married couples she came up with 12 habits that if applied consistently to your marriage could make a world of difference. And she says that “even if one spouse commits to applying these simple but powerful habits, most marriages end up being transformed.” Her #1 habit number is committing to a few, simple, day-to-day actions that speak love and care for your partner individually. In most cases when couples aren’t doing the small things it isn’t because they’re trying to withhold them, it’s often that we don’t realise how hugely important they are. Little things do matter! From research Shaunti discovered that: • 88% men were deeply pleased when their wives expressed their appreciation for something he did with a word, hug or smile

We all know that small thoughtful acts aren’t a magic cure for every marital issue but they do go a long way to creating a culture that says I notice you, I care about you and I want you to know I love you.

• 75% of all women were deeply pleased when their husband texted or emailed in the day to say he loved her These aren’t hard to do but in the busyness of life we often just forget to consistently do the basics.

So this week can I encourage you to consistently do one thing that speaks love to your husband or wife? And if you don’t know what that might be, then can I suggest that you start by asking.

I know in my own marriage that when I simply thank Andy for helping me round the house, when I compliment him 30

what’s on guide

What’s on at Botany... Sunday 7th September

Saturday 13th Sunday 14th September

Friday 19th Sunday 21st September

Community Project

FamilyLife “Weekend to Remember” Conference

Sunday 5th October

Sunday 19th October

Daylight Savings begins

Final Majesty journal begins

New Explore course starts

Friday 7th November

Saturday 8th November

Forest and Jungle fireworks socials

Xchange and ALTR fireworks socials

Saturday 22nd November

Sunday 14th December

Wednesday 24th December

Leadership Café

Jesus’ Birthday Party

Christmas Eve Service

Fathers’ Day

Sunday 28th September

Thursday 27th November Carols at Botany