Portal (Issue 14) by BotanyLife Community Church

Issue 14 | Jan - Dec 2016

Contents 04

Feature Article The Year in Panorama

Leadership Spotlight Meet Malcolm & Kylie Osborne

Staff Changes

Kotahi Update Check in for the latest news!

Local Outreach - Christmas Season 2016 - Community Project at Macleans Primary School - Project Shelter

Global Outreach - Myanmar Update

Community Groups Friday Night Feast & The Crew

Children’s Ministry - Splash Party - We will miss you!

Youth Ministry Xchange & ALTR

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

In Memory Vay Vivian

Reviews Grab a comfy seat, turn the volume up, rustle the family together and grab some popcorn

Marriage and Parenting Disagreeing Agreeably by Nikki Bray

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

BOTANYLIFE COMMUNITY CHURCH {STAFF} LEAD PASTOR/ELDER - BRAD (AND ROCHELLE) CARR COMMUNITY PASTOR - MARK (AND STEPH) VAN WIJK CHILDRENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PASTOR - MEL (AND DREW) PALMER WORSHIP AND GROUPS PASTOR - ROBIN (AND SONIA) BYRNE KOTAHI MANAGER/COMMUNICATIONS - MEL (AND JULIAN) THORBURN EVENTS MANAGER - MEL DUNFORD BUILDING PROJECT - MANDY FRANCIS

{ELDERS} TODD (AND SHEREE) HUGHES STUART (AND IANTHE) JONES ANDRE (AND CHRISTL) KIRSTEIN KK (AND SUSAN) LEONG HARATAKI (AND SHONA) MANIHERA STEVE (AND ROBYN) YOUNG

The Year i n Pa n o r a m a Text by Brad Carr.

few weeks ago I was on a retreat with a number of fellow Senior Pastors from the Living Stones Network of churches that BotanyLife belongs to. As I was chatting to a couple of pastors from the South Island, we were talking about what preaching series each of us had been doing in our churches this past year. As I described the Panorama series that we have been going through, they were very fascinated by the series and grew increasingly interested the longer we talked.

I have replayed that conversation a few times in my mind in the ensuing weeks, and it has given me the opportunity to reflect more on the Panorama series. As I have done so, it has helped me to celebrate some significant benefits that I believe have resulted from this unique series this year. Firstly, I think one of the huge benefits of the Panorama series has been the way that it has helped many people in our church put the whole story of the Bible together. There are a good number of people at BotanyLife who are newer to the Christian faith, or have come from backgrounds where they are simply not familiar with large sections of the Bible. A number of you have commented through the year how helpful this series has been for explaining the storyline of the Bible. 4

Conversely, I have also received lots of feedback from people who were brought up in church families, and have been exposed to Bible stories from childhood. For a number of us (because that group includes me), this series has been helpful in terms of taking many Bible stories that we are most familiar with, and helping us understand how each of them contribute to the overall narrative. Understanding the big picture of the Bible has been one of the tangible benefits from doing Panorama this year. A second benefit has been the dual focus on both Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Story and Our Story through the Panorama series.

“Prison,” the story of Joseph in the “Beginnings” album, is a great example of this dual application. The big idea of Prison was that God often writes our life story differently than we would write it for the purpose of His Story. The God’s Story focus from this episode showed us that even though Joseph was mistreated and abused by his brothers, God sovereignly used their sin and competitiveness to save the family line of the Messiah from famine. God did not orchestrate what Joseph’s brothers did, but he sovereignly used what happened to protect Joseph and then ultimately his entire family (and therefore the promise of Messiah). The sermon then applied those lessons to Our Story, showing that the same God who was sovereign over Joseph’s life is also sovereign over ours. That doesn’t mean that God always protects us from bad things or evil people, but it does mean that God is in control, and we can trust him no matter what happens in our lives. The third huge benefit of the Panorama series that I have particularly enjoyed is the central focus on Jesus. Wherever we have been in the overall storyline, we have tried to show that each episode is either pointing forward to the coming of Jesus, or celebrating what he accomplished. For example, in “Tree” we saw our first parents disobeying

God and bringing sin, the curse and death into the creation. However, we also saw the first promise of a deliverer, a new Adam, who would take away the curse for us. In “Stars,” we heard the promise that God would bless the world through the offspring of Abraham, while “Lamb” showed us that the blood of a spotless lamb would enable God’s judgment to pass over his people. “Shepherd” taught us that an eternal shepherd-king would come from David’s family line, while the failures of the kings of Israel and Judah in “Broken” and “Pendulum” helped us long for the perfect king. And then of course he came, after a long period of waiting. As we arrived in the New Testament and the fifth album “Saviour,” we saw the God of Panorama entering our story by becoming the kid next door. Jesus invited absolutely everyone to follow him, proving through his miracles that he hears and he cares, and teaching about what matters most in life. And then he died as our substitute, in our place, for our sins, before rising again from the dead to show that life will never be the same again. And the church, God’s Spirit-empowered, multi-ethnic new community, is taking that message of good news wherever God takes us on our journeys. Helping us understand that the entire Panorama storyline centres on Jesus has been incredibly significant. The fourth big benefit of Panorama for me this year has been the opportunity that we have had to be on the same learning journey as our primary-aged children and intermediate youth. As Mel Palmer notes in her article on the Panorama series (see next page), the children and youth have been doing exactly the same stories as the adults all the way through the year. Some of the time their big idea has been exactly the same as the adults; other times we have modified it or simplified it a little bit, but we have essentially been learning the same core truth each week. While it’s been a lot of work to pull all of that together and write our own kids and youth curriculum every week, we think the benefits of families learning the same truths together has been worth the effort. 5

Finally, something that I am really excited about is a benefit that has not happened yet. One of our goals in planning and putting together Panorama this year has been to put the series together in such a way that other churches could use it in the future. We have tried to package everything to make the whole series nice and easy to use. And our hope is that once we are finished this year, that other churches will use what we have done to embark on their own Panorama adventure. That’s what was so exciting about the conversation around the picnic table with the two pastors from the South Island on my recent retreat. As I described the Panorama series and how it was designed, these pastors got really excited, especially when I explained that we were putting it all together so that adults, youth and children could all journey together through the Bible. They have both expressed interest in using Panorama in their churches in the next year or two, and it’s exciting to think that the people in their churches will now also reap the same benefits we have had from this epic Panorama journey.

FEATURE ARTICLE

As we have taught Panorama both in the main church services, and also in BotanyKids and Xchange, we have attempted to bring out how each episode in the story contributes to the biblical narrative of God’s plan for the world (God’s Story) and also how each episode challenges us and applies key lessons to our personal lives (Our Story).

Pa n o r a m a S e r i e s Kids Perspective Text by Mel Palmer.

HERE IS WHAT SOME OF THE KIDS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT:

anorama - what an adventure! Who has enjoyed it? I certainly have!

This year, we have journeyed together through the highs and lows of the Bible - we’ve seen how God’s big story fits together. We’ve seen how God created the world and how people messed it up. We’ve seen how, right from the very beginning, God had a plan to rescue us and we’ve learnt about that rescue! We have had so much fun including the kids from the Forest and the Jungle on our journey this year!

Milla Byrne - I loved hearing all the different stories in the albums. I knew lots of the stories but learnt lots more. The actions for Panorama are helpful, they’re fun and they help me to remember what the story was about. Mya Roper - I have enjoyed reading the journals and doing the actions. I liked the journals because it was fun to do the activities and writing at home during the week. I liked everything! My favourite story was about Jesus in the manger, because that’s when Jesus was born and that’s what Christmas is all about, which is why we celebrate it. It was important that Jesus came because he took away our sins on the cross.

For the kids, the experience of Panorama has been virtually the same as the experience the adults have had. They have covered the same stories that the adults have, on the same weekends, with a similar big idea. They have just learnt about it in slightly different ways - through creative large group leaders and fun small group leaders, through games and crafts, through clever animated videos and crazy songs, and of course through lots of repetition with our Panorama actions!

Zander Mclean - The best thing about the Forest is the teachers dressing up and doing plays about miracles. I liked the story about the plagues and the lamb. Renee van Wijk - I enjoyed learning the Old Testament. I liked that there is actions for each one. All of the stories are great, but some were sad. My favourite was the story of Esther - because it was about a girl finally, not a boy.

From “Creation” to “Forever,” many of our kids now have a deeper understanding of how all the stories in the Bible are really parts of a bigger story that points to Jesus, our rescuer. Panorama has been a great journey!

Josh Dunford - The thing that I liked most about Panorama was the videos and there is nothing I didn’t like. My favourite story is “Nails” cause it’s when Jesus died and rose again and I like that.

FEATURE ARTICLE

Pa n o r a m a S e r i e s fa c e t i m e Text by Lee Bailey.

aceTime is a new community group this year, consisting of women from a diverse range of backgrounds and walks of life. We have invested a lot of time getting to know each other and listening to each other’s stories and as such, have formed strong bonds in a relatively quick space of time. Following the Panorama series and discussion questions has helped give us an immediate common connection.

kid next door, without us being in the throes of Christmas, with all the busyness and distractions that it sometimes entails. We had a wonderful celebration at community group – we discussed “Manger” while enjoying gifts, Christmas baking and refreshments, Christmas music and sharing traditions. I came away with some great ideas on how to keep the focus on Jesus, like a personalised family Advent calendar, and preserving the awe and wonder of God’s incredible gift to us.

At FaceTime, we can all participate in discussing the sermon and questions because we are familiar with the stories in the sermons, though often it’s from a very different angle than what we’ve heard before. It is through the open ended personal questions that we have come to know each other better and really feel like we’re in community together. We usually start our time together sharing, ‘dessert-ing’ and praying, but we often find ourselves praying at the end as well, along the lines of how The Big Idea and God’s Story relates to Our Story.

We all agree that going through the Bible from start to finish and understanding it as a whole story is fabulous. We don’t know why Brad hasn’t done it sooner! ;) If you haven’t read the The Story Of The Bible In 1000 Words at the back of the every journal, I highly recommend it! The Panorama series this year has been great for our new community group, giving us a common bond and challenging us to go deeper into God’s word and share more of ourselves. FaceTime is a women’s community group run by Steph van Wijk and Lee Bailey and meets fortnightly on a Wednesday evening. For more information, contact Steph (021 126 1499).

The “Manger” sermon was particularly special. It was so awesome to hear with fresh ears about God becoming the 7

Malcolm & Kylie Osborne Text by Abby Smith.

icture this... finally after over two years of searching for:

• T he right job for Dad (Where is it? What is it?) • A much needed bigger house (Where is it? Does a house that suits teenagers exist? Why is it so hard to find?)

A period of praying ensued; what’s happening God? Where do you want us? And to be fair, communication seemed to be fairly one way, the feeling of ‘have patience, trust me’ was not always easy to live out day to day. And then finally, breakthrough! Dads job (BIG TICK), new house (BIG TICK). Mum sitting down in the lounge amidst a mountain of boxes taking a breather whilst deciding what box she shall tackle next as she packs the house before school pickup; and the phone goes. It’s Robin Byrne, with impeccable timing, asking if he can come and see them to chat about a leadership opportunity. So amongst the chaos of boxes, Robin put it to the Osbornes that he thought they would be fabulous as the leaders of Xchange, our intermediate ministry at BotanyLife. So I popped round to visit the new ‘teen friendly’ home to find out a bit

more about Xchange, the Osbornes and why they said YES to the role. SO, WHY DO YOU THINK ROBIN ASKED YOU TWO TO LEAD XCHANGE? (NO EASING THEM INTO IT QUESTIONS HERE!) K Ohhhh, um I don’t know, maybe because we have experience with children that age? In fact our two daughters have just been through Xchange, and now our son is in Year 7; so we know the age group well. WHY DID YOU AGREE TO LEAD THIS MINISTRY? K Well, after a period of uncertainty (as previously described), we had felt we would like to take up a leadership role in some area, and this, quite honestly, was the right thing at the right time. We liked the fact that it was something we could do together. M Kylie being the planner and organiser, and me more the one to kick a ball, lead a ruckus game! So now you know who the new leaders are, let’s find out a little more about them... Malcolm and Kylie met in Cambridge, 8

at church. Kylie had been happily attending church with her family, and along comes a visiting Malcolm with a friend; he sees Kylie and... well, I know the ‘behind the scenes’ version of the story... it is worth asking them about (especially any single young men looking for a wife!) but needless to say, 22 months later both had wedding rings on their fingers! 20 years later they have three children, Sophie, Courtney and Daniel, and Daisy the cat. Malcolm works as a Commercial Manager in the City, and Kylie as a Legal Executive in Howick. They have been back in Howick for 3 ½ years after a wee jaunt down to Nelson for a couple of years. They came along to BotanyLife on the suggestion of, well actually, me... and important others! These others being their Nelson pastors, who were in fact good friends of Brad and Rochelle Carr. The Nelson pastors had been visiting them and thought BotanyLife would be a good fit for the Osborne family as a whole. Once they arrived back in Howick, BotanyLife appealed to them as a family, they loved the kid’s programmes, the welcoming people, and quite simply it felt like home.

LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

WHAT DO YOU WANT THE KIDS WHO ATTEND XCHANGE TO DISCOVER AND LEARN UNDER YOUR TENURE? K I want them to learn about God, know how much they are loved by God, and have a sense of belonging to the Xchange group. M I agree. Also I feel it is a step up, I would like them to make a commitment to God, moving into understanding the next steps in their relationship with God. And to be able to stand up, know what it means to take the next step in their faith. Xchange is a really short time, but an important time, they go from kids to teenagers. It’s the transition from fidgeting in church, to being able to sit through, and understand a sermon and moving onto serving in the church themselves. WHAT DOES THE XCHANGE PROGRAMME ACTUALLY INVOLVE? K During the Sunday morning services, after the worship time, the

intermediates come out and do a study. There is a great team in place already who we will be joining. At present we are mirroring the Panorama series, but sometimes we will do different studies to what the church is doing. During the school holidays the Xchange youth actually stay in church, both to give the leaders a bit of a break and to begin introducing them to the main church services. Once they finish Xchange and head off to high school, they join the adult services every Sunday, so this is a good transition. A social event is also organised twice a term by Sarah Rush, usually on a Saturday. BEARING IN MIND YOUR CHILDREN ARE ALL AROUND THIS AGE, HOW DID THEY FEEL ABOUT YOU TAKING ON THIS ROLE? K The girls were not bothered, as long as it didn’t affect mum’s taxi service! Daniel was a bit embarrassed at the start, in fact he wondered if perhaps we could not identify ourselves as his parents! 9

WHAT DO THE OSBORNES DO FOR FUN? K We love going to Whiritoa Beach on the east coast of the Coromandel. We spend all our family holidays at the family bach. The girls play netball, which I also enjoy. M Football... a Manchester United fan, I play in the over 40’s Fencibles team, help manage Daniel’s team and enjoy watching it. I can comfortably say that Xchange is in good hands. This experienced, enthusiastic couple who said yes (amongst boxes) are passionate about teaching our intermediates, and guiding them on their next steps in their walk with God. And as a parent of a ‘nearly intermediate’, I can’t ask for anything more.

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Text by Brad Carr.

e recently announced some important changes in our administrative staff, and we would like to share a few more details about these very important people in our church office.

After almost five years on staff, Mandy Francis has decided it is (almost) time for a change. Mandy has been wearing three different hats at BotanyLife: she has served our community trust as the Trust Administrator since Feb 2012; she then added a second role as our Sunday Administrator for church in May 2012; and she has also been serving for the last three years as the Project Manager overseeing the renovations at Kotahi. However, Mandy has recently decided that once the Kotahi building project is completed early next year, she would like to move on to something new. In light of that, we are already starting the handover of Sunday services and the trust administration roles, so that she can concentrate fully on finishing the Kotahi project early in 2017. We have also taken this opportunity to re-work some of the administrative tasks within the office. We have decided we want to give more hours to events management for the church (both internal and outreach events), as well as putting more hours into the rental and ongoing management of Kotahi. In light of that, we are excited that Mel Thorburn has accepted a new role as Kotahi Manager. With a background in hospitality and customer relations, Mel T will be responsible for the hireage of Kotahi by both regular and casual users. Mel T will also keep some administrative responsibilities within the church, mainly around communications, such as bulletins, monthly email updates, and the editing of our Portal magazine. We are thrilled to announce that Mel Dunford has joined our staff team in a new role of Events Manager (yes, I know it’s confusing having three Melanie’s on staff!!). Mel D will take on the new role of organising both internal and outreach events for us. As part of this role, she will also take over the Sunday administration tasks during the week from Mandy. However, Mel Dunford won’t be on duty on Sunday mornings as Mandy has been in the past few years. Instead, those responsibilities will now be shared by the three fulltime pastors (Mark, Robin and I). From February next year, Mel Dunford will also be taking over the administration of the trust from Mandy, as well as some general admin and accounts work for church from Mel Thorburn. So the new roles will look as follows: MEL THORBURN - Kotahi Manager / Communications MEL DUNFORD - Events Manager / Administration MANDY FRANCIS - Project Manager We are very grateful to God for each of these incredibly gifted staff members. Mel Dunford has already started work in the office, and Mandy will continue to be based there until the building project is complete. Mandy also plans to continue attending BotanyLife after stepping down from staff, which we’re delighted about. Please join us in thanking God for our wonderful staff team.

LEADERSHIP

Staff Changes

KOTAHI

Update Text by Mark van Wijk.

hat a year it’s been for our community centre, as we near completion of the fit out - here are some of the highlights:

KITCHEN The most obvious new feature recently has been the installation of an amazing new kitchen. As soon as you enter the main doors, it’s one of the first things you notice. We’re so grateful to Nicola Mountfort and Bronnie Macleod for their ability to create a space that is both beautiful and functional. The regular use of the kitchen space has proven its ability to handle a wide range of events. The coffee machine, in particular, is in constant use!

A NAME After a fun creative process, involving dozens of people, we chose a name for our community centre - Kotahi (from the Maori word Kotahitanga, which means unity). It’s our hope that Kotahi can be a place where people can experience unity & togetherness, make connections, and form relationships.

BATHROOMS A number of carefully managed stages were required to see this part of the project through, each involving different groups of people. The Pathways community group, led by Andre and Christl Kirstein were instrumental in the concrete cutting and trenching phase, whilst much of the wall lining was completed by some of our youth and young adults. We’re grateful to young guys like Sam Knight, Randall Reid and Harrison Carr who spent a number of hours covered in GIB dust as they worked on this. It’s also worth mentioning a special moment for the staff team - we took great delight

MMM ROUND TWO We were so blessed to have the fantastic team from Mobile Mission Maintenance (MMM) return for a second round of work. They were able to complete some key construction tasks for us, including completing the wall lining, installing cupboard doors, and replacing the roller door with a new external wall and large exit doors. The scale involved in some of this work required professional tradesman, and so the cost savings on this work (given that MMM donate their time) were significant. Thanks MMM - you guys are brilliant! 12

COMMUNITY CENTRE

in demolishing the old bathroom once the new ones were up and running - a fun team-building exercise that we all enjoyed!

Most Friday nights see ALTR, our high school youth ministry, in various parts of the building and on other occasions we’ve hosted social events for Xchange (intermediate youth) and the Forest & Jungle (our primary aged kids ministries).

CEILING & LIGHTS The auditorium ceiling space has been transformed, with the removal of the old lights (well, what was left of them), and the installation of an insulated, lined ceiling and efficient (plus ball-proof) LED lights. This space wasn’t a great place to be in when it was raining hard on the metal roof, but now it’s a much more pleasant environment.

We’ve also hosted some large outreach events, including our Olympic Quiz night & an All Blacks game on the big screen. Recently we held our first Profile lunch (for newcomers) in the café space, utilising that beautiful kitchen, and a few weeks ago held a Baptism service on a Sunday evening. COMPLETING KOTAHI As we bring the fit out project to completion in the next few months, we’ll see the final pieces fall into place, including carpet, air conditioning, audio visual equipment and the doors between the auditorium & foyer space. As great as this is, we’re even more excited about seeing how God will use this building to draw people to himself, to bring people together, to create unity - both within our own church community, as well as the wider Botany community.

IT’S GETTING BUSY IN HERE! With approval from Auckland Council, we were excited to be able to start using Kotahi for a wide range of activities, as well as hiring out the space. If you turn up on a Sunday morning you’ll see Harvest Church, who have been meeting in the auditorium since July (and who lease the office space below ours). You may have noticed their awesome new sign above their office, which will soon be followed by Kotahi branding for the rest of the building. 13

christmas

season

2016 Text by Mel Thorburn.

his year at BotanyLife, we have a variety of wonderful events planned to celebrate the Christmas season. Not only is this a special time for us as Christians to come together as a church family and rejoice in the arrival of our saviour, but it gives us the opportunity to interact with unchurched friends and family about the true meaning of the season - Jesus. Each of the events that are detailed below offer a safe setting for you to invite your friends and family along to, where they can hear the good news of Christ while also having fun. Check out these events on Facebook and start thinking about who you could invite.

OUTREACH COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CAROLS AT BOTANY / BOTANY TOWN CENTRE / THURSDAY 1ST DECEMBER 7PM We are once again privileged to be invited back to Botany Town Centre to lead what is essentially a carols service right in the heart of the shopping centre. This is a wonderful opportunity to kick off the Christmas season by inviting our local community to slow down, sing some carols, and consider the true meaning of Christmas. CHRISTMAS FAMILY SERVICE / BOTANY COLLEGE / SUNDAY 18TH DECEMBER 9 & 11AM The last Sunday before Christmas is an opportunity for adults and children to come together and think about the meaning of Christmas. This year we’re excited to present “Star Walk,” a creative portrayal of the Christmas story using the much-loved characters of Star Wars. You won’t want to miss it!

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE / BOTANY COLLEGE / SATURDAY 24 DECEMBER, 7PM The final event on our Christmas calendar will be our traditional carol service by candlelight on the evening of Christmas Eve, which has been a feature every year since BotanyLife began. The sense of excitement as we gather as a church family and a large number of guests to celebrate the birth of Jesus together is something truly special. From carols to readings, multimedia to a brief message, the entire service draws our attention back to the Saviour who was born in Bethlehem for us. This is a wonderful service to not only attend as a family or group of friends, but also to invite unchurched friends along to. If they are going to come along to one church service in the year, it may well be this one, so invite them along!

CHRISTMAS ON ICE / PARADICE ICE SKATING / SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER, 6PM This has become a highlight of our Christmas calendar - the chance to experience a little bit of winter wonderland at the start of our summer! This year it will be even bigger! The generosity of Chris and Sarah Blong and the team at Paradice Ice Skating allow us to have a fun time with family and friends, ice-skating to some live Christmas music. Last year all profits from this event were donated to the Howick Volunteer Coastguard, and this year the proceeds will once again go to a worthy charity doing great things in our local community.

MACLEANS PRIMARY SCHOOL Text by Mark van Wijk.

ach year, as a church community, we donate an entire weekend of time to a local school to help with projects that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. This is part of our commitment to playing a positive role in our local community, and really lives out our value of being a Go & Do church:

year the Howick Local Board generously funded the bulk of the construction material costs. Prior to the actual project, and for the first time ever, Mel Palmer and I spent some time in a couple of school assemblies leading up to the community project - explaining what it was all about, encouraging kids to get their families involved, and introducing a mural design competition for the students. One of the big highlights of the weekend was seeing the installation of eight new murals, which were inspired by the winning designs. Well done art team - you did an amazing job of bringing the designs to life!

WE ARE A CHURCH OF ACTION THAT IS COMMITTED TO DEMONSTRATING GOD’S LOVE FOR PEOPLE, BY PRACTICALLY SERVING OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY (MATTHEW 5:13-16; ISAIAH 58:7-10; LUKE 10:25-37; JAMES 2:14-26). With support from local businesses, we are able to achieve an incredible amount over the weekend, with over 200 volunteers taking part.

A few weeks after the project Mel and I were invited back to a special presentation at another school assembly, where the students expressed their appreciation for all the work carried out at the project, and presented BotanyLife with a photo book full of highlights from the weekend. Next time you’re in at the church office, be sure to grab the book and take a look at what the school put together for us!

This year, on 10 & 11 September, the community project was at Macleans Primary School in Bucklands Beach. Over the weekend more than 40 projects were completed, including gardens, artwork, seating, staging, painting, line marking, concreting and plenty more. Thank you to everyone who participated on the weekend – we really appreciate your enthusiastic involvement.

You can check out more photos from the weekend at facebook.com/botanylife

The support from the school community was fantastic, with lots of staff and parents joining in, as well as volunteers from the wider community. A number of local businesses, including Placemakers Pakuranga, Hirepool East Tamaki, Frucor and Wild Wheat continued their support, and this 16

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

PROJECT SHELTER Text by Wendy Shaw.

t the end of autumn this year, the media covered the distressing news of how a growing number of families couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford to live in Auckland and were forced to move out of overpopulated rental properties and into their cars. Mangere Marae graciously offered their services to such families, but the problem was greater than they could manage themselves, so Manurewa Marae made the decision to pick up the excess load.

community group, the Soul Sisters, to help. A small group of us got together one morning to create the care packages. It was lovely to have these ladies give up their time and made the task quick and fun. We also had a wonderful response from the youth in our church family. Mack Palmer led the charge at Pigeon Mountain School. He organised a school wide mufti day with a donation towards the project instead of a gold coin (see the article by Mack on the opposite page). It brought in an unbelievably large amount of donations and we struggled to house it all, so needed another sort. Steph co-leads the community group FaceTime and managed to round up a great team of packers, including some younger family members, plus a few more of the Soul Sisters that could help one evening. With such a big group we got through the mountain of donations and we set up a great production line to work through the parcels.

After attending an information meeting at the Marae with Mark and Steph van Wijk, Mark developed a fantastic plan to invite the local community to donate items, which could be sent to the Marae, and I jumped at the opportunity to help. We started collecting donated bed linen, blankets and towels, and also wanted to make care packages for the families which included a toothbrush, toothpaste, flannel, soap and other items such as shampoo, moisturiser or a razor. The project was launched at BotanyLife during a Sunday service in August and we had a great response from the church. A steady flow of items was received and I took a few trips with the kids over to Kotahi to go through the items and sort them into boxes. One Friday morning, I piled up the car, packing as much as I could in around the 2 kids, and drove over to deliver the first lot of goods, which were gratefully received.

Other schools got involved too and more donations arrived. Another sort out by some helpful ladies in the October holidays got the last of the donated blankets, bedding and towels packed. Steph delivered them to the Marae and was informed that with only 3 to 5 weeks left of the initiative this would be our last delivery. I would just like to thank all of you who donated items for the Marae and also those ladies and young women who took the time to help box it up.

The donations continued to arrive at Kotahi, many from complete strangers who had seen the local newspaper article and wanted to get involved. I decided to invite my 18

COMMUNITY OUTREACH CENTRE

he young adults community group (Launch) wanted to do something to help with Project Shelter. With the majority of our group being students or first time workers, we needed to come up with a creative way of raising money using the skills at our disposal, and so the “Launch Progressive Help Night” came into being.

Text by Vernon & Michelle Lomberg (Launch Community Group Leaders).

Working in groups of two or three, we went to the homes of people from church and completed any task they wanted us to do. Tasks included such things as dishes, folding laundry, cleaning windows, etc. When the task was completed, we were given our payment and off we went to the next home until our lists were completed. Each group visited 3-4 homes on the evening and had a blast doing their tasks, as well as getting to know other people in the church. The funniest story of the night was Anna and Daniel dusting the varnish off the blinds at the Young’s (I think they needed to be replaced anyhow)! We all then headed back to Michelle and Vernon’s for yummy sticky date pudding dessert and shared reports on our night. All in all we raised $260 dollars for Project Shelter, met new people and had a fun night. Thank you to everyone who hosted us and made this night possible.

hen I heard about Project Shelter, I felt excited; our church, and the wider community, were making a difference to help homeless people. I wanted to help too. I am on the student council at my school (Pigeon Mountain Primary), so I went and talked to Mrs Leader about it. She was excited too because our school motto is “education with a heart” and this gave us the opportunity to show our heart. We decided to have a mufti day and I was looking forward to it because I got to talk to our school about the need in assembly. I told the school that people have been talking about the issue of homelessness a lot this year, and that Project Shelter gave us a chance to help. The students could bring donations of towels, bedding, soaps, toothbrushes and toothpaste. I was glad that the marae, and all of us, got this chance to help. Imagine having no blankets - INSIDE a house - that would be cold enough for me!

Text by Mack Palmer.

I was really looking forward to the day that people were actually going to give. I didn’t know how much we would get. The outcome was awesome, and I am sure the involvement from the rest of the community was too. Not only did we get a heap of linen and toiletries, but the usual gold coin donations for wearing mufti was also donated to Project Shelter and we raised $223.10. I’m really glad that there are lots of kind people in our community, and that they were nice and caring towards homeless people around Auckland. 19

GLOBAL OUTREACH: Myanmar Update

“Come Over and Help Us”

Text by Rowland Forman.

his last trip Elaine and I (along with Igor and Hanna Gerritson) made to Myanmar in August this year, had the feel of culmination and completion to it. We’ve been going back and forth to ‘The Golden Land’ for the last six years. It all started with a simple email from Pastor Andrew Bawi Ceu (sounds like Boy Chay-o) in Mandalay. He said, “please come over and help us train pastors and leaders in this needy land.” I look on him as the ‘Man of Myanmar’ – like the ‘Man of Macedonia’ that called out to the Apostle Paul to come over and help him in Acts 16. On my first visit, we were driving around Mandalay in his 1976 Nissan Sunny, and he said, “I’ve been praying for five years that one day, God would give me a spiritual father and you’re the answer to that prayer.”

Three years ago, Andrew and I decided to focus on the training of a few, rather than scattering good seed to many. We launched Barnabas School of Leadership (BSL) in 2015 - four 1-week training modules, run over two years, with practical ministry and mentoring assignments in between. It has been an unbelievable privilege. This last September, 22 of the pastors and evangelists graduated. You could almost touch the excitement. One of the most exciting parts of the final 1-week module was taking Android tablets over for each pastor (when I told one of my Kiwi non-techy friends, they thought we were taking pills for them!). Elaine had great delight in handing out their tablets (chocolates) each day. Thank you BotanyLife for contributing to this (the tablets that is). A colleague in Denver gave me a device that allowed the pastors to download outreach and pastoral training resources onto their tablets. Amazing. Now they are taking their “spiritual medicine” to homes and showing them things like the Jesus video.

I’m more into mutual mentoring (coming to listen and learn from each other) than guru-type-mentoring, and thankfully that’s what it is like now. I have so much to learn from Andrew, this wonderful servant-leader. He’s Senior Pastor at Faith Bible Church, Principal of Shiloh Bible College and planter of around 17 churches all over Myanmar. For the first four years of our friendship, Andrew and I have conducted Pastors’ Conferences in various parts of what used to be known as Burma, a country that is 95% Buddhist, and until recently under a military dictatorship. Some of those conferences felt like scattering seed – two days of teaching and maybe never seeing the pastors again. In that period, Elaine bought treadle Singer sewing machines and taught pastor’s wives to sew as well as conducting cooking classes. It has been such a lot of fun.

In June I also had the joy of attending the Global Proclamation Congress in Bangkok. Over 3000 pastors from 120 countries attended. The call of the congress was to find a simple, on-the-job way to train pastors in under-resourced parts of the world. When pastors from countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Ghana heard about BSL they pleaded with me to come and start one there. Please pray for us as we respond to these ‘Macedonian’ calls. 20

GLOBAL OUTREACH

Friday Night feast Text by Shannon Black.

e joined BotanyLife just over two years ago and were eager to find a community group we could join as a family so that each of us could make connections with others in the church. When the new community group Feast began earlier this year we were excited to join and have not looked back.

get to bring our own food and play together.” Ryan - “I like feast because Jedd is my friend.” Friday Night Feast is a new fortnightly family-friendly community group, co-led by two couples; Drew & Mel Palmer and Eddy & Rachel Roper. Typically, they meet on a Friday evening around 6pm at the Palmers to eat their dinner and then enjoy a time of discussion and prayer. For further details, please have a chat with one of them, or contact Robin Byrne our Groups pastor.

We enjoy the time of socialising, fellowship and discussion and have met many new friends. During Feast we are able to share any concerns or joys we are experiencing as a family, and know we have a group of friends praying for us. We meet every second week, sharing a meal together followed by a discussion of the week’s sermon. Our kids have also really enjoyed getting to know other kids at church and look forward eagerly to Feast nights. When asked their thoughts on going to Feast, these were their replies: Chiara - “I like going to Feast because I get to see my friends and we get to have fast food.” Becca - “I like Feast because we usually watch movies with our friends and we

Text by Debbie du Toit.

ave you heard of ‘Golden Boy’ or the ‘GI Joe trophy’? Chances are, if you’re a bloke at BotanyLife, you’ve heard about the community group with the infamous golden trophy - The Crew! This highly coveted masterpiece has been doing the rounds of The Crew for a number of years now, and is the dread of many-a-wife after the men’s group have a social get together!

are therefore able to share common experiences, ask the hard questions and hold one another accountable. The usual Monday night programme may include discussing biblical topics, sharing life challenges or just engaging in informal conversation over a drink. John and his wife Rochelle live in Cockle Bay with their children; Sam aged 10, Hannah, aged 8 and 4-year old Will. After spending some time overseas, John and Rochelle returned to their native Auckland, where they attended a church on the North Shore. When they ended up settling out east, they looked for a church closer to their home, and were introduced to BotanyLife Community Church by some friends, who were already members. John recalls their first visit to BotanyLife back in mid-2012 when our Sunday services were still being held at Riverina Primary School. The services had a similar feel to their previous home church. They felt very comfortable and soon decided to make this their home.

The men compete for the popular trophy at their social events through the year, either through a sporting challenge or game of poker. Their most recent social was a batting cage challenge where the winner was the group’s previous leader, Drew Palmer. Having never won it before, Drew was sure Mel would be ecstatic at the thought of displaying this on their mantelpiece! John Molloy, who has recently taken up the leadership of this men’s group, says that staying in touch with group members and doing some of the forward planning for the group, are among some of his responsibilities in this role.

In finishing my time with John, I share a bit of my own family’s journey at BotanyLife Community Church, and am quietly grateful for the privilege of meeting with other believers who make up our church family.

The group meets on alternate Monday nights, where their number ranges between 5 and 10. The men who belong to this community group are at similar stages in their life, and 23

COMMUNITY GROUPS

The Crew

SPLASH Water Party

CHILDRENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MINISTRY

Earlier this year we held a special outreach fun day for BotanyKids and their friends, which we called Splash! Kids paid a $5 entry fee for water-related fun and food, with all proceeds going to the Project Thailand outreach ministry - we raised $345. Kim-Maree Sherer and Zac Culpan (who had travelled to Thailand at the start of the year) came and shared with the kids what their money would go towards. This event was a huge hit with kids and adults alike - so weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve decided to do it again next year!

We will miss you! Text by Mel Palmer.

This group of fantastic kids are nearly at the end of their time in the Jungle. They are a curious and enthusiastic bunch. We have loved having them in BotanyKids and we will most definitely miss them. Xchange team, you have some great kids on their way to you! Take care of them. I asked them all two questions: 1. What was your favourite memory from your time in BotanyKids? 2. What is your favourite story of Panorama? Why? Here are their responses…

ISAAC All the socials during my six years there.

ELI Splash was the best because we got to get wet and active! “Manger” is my favourite because it was when Jesus was born.

“P.O.W” because it’s cool how even though King Nebuchadnezzar tried to stop Daniel and co. from worshipping God, they still did so. What makes it even cooler is that they were supposed to be killed for worshipping God, but they survived.

MACK I was happy when we got that golden card for the gospel project, but my favourite would have to be the Dr. Seuss family service.

LIAM I really enjoyed learning more about God in the amazing race.

I liked “Prison” because I think it is a really cool story about how God is with us in bad times and how he makes good come out of it.

I liked “Miracles” because it shows how awesome, powerful and amazing God is.

TOBY The Guy Fawkes night we had.

When my dad acted as Phil Keoghan in the Amazing Race. I also liked the activities and the theme.

Joshua and the walls of Jericho sticks in my mind the most. I enjoyed the “Conquest” story.

“Warriors.” I especially remember the story of Ehud when he stabbed King Eglon and his guts exploded like a bomb.

MAC

Watching The Princess Bride with the boys at Kotahi and doing all the school makeovers.

The splash party and throwing sponges at each other. My favourite story was “Flame” and how God talked through the burning bush.

“Warriors” where the Judge Ehud stabbed the fat king and the knife sank into his fat and then his bowels discharged.

JOEL

KYAN

Ice cream party. When we finished learning all the books of the Old Testament we got to choose a flavour of ice cream and toppings. Delicious!

My favourite thing about BotanyKids is learning about God. My favourite Panorama story was “Conquest” - when they took the Promised Land. I liked the way the all came together, worked together and helped each other.

“Creation” story, when God created the earth. I find it fascinating because the earth is so huge with so many different types of animals.

LANYA

ASHLEIGH

I have only been in the Jungle since my family joined BotanyLife last year and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. Made new friends and enjoyed the teaching from the cool teachers.

I remember when we were back in Riverina, we would draw on the pavement with chalk to help us remember what we had learnt. It was also really cool when we were doing some of the crafts.

“Miracles” because it shows how powerful and almighty is our Lord is and proves that He is the true King! Amazing miracles.

“Lamb.” Shows how mighty God’s powers are and he is in control of everything.

To all of you who feature on this page - we will miss you! We hope you love your time in Xchange. Have fun, learn lots and we pray that you continue get to know our awesome God more and more and that you trust Him with your future. You never know, this might not be the end of We will also miss BotanyKids for you the following kids: one day you might be Charli F, Coby B, back as a leader! Jason C, Ben R

BROOKLYN We got ice cream for knowing all the books of the Old Testament and we did a minute-to-win-it game. Chloe had to feed me ice cream while I was blindfolded and I guessed the flavour. “Tree,” it reminds us that no one is perfect and we are like Adam and Eve and now we can’t be with God because of sin.

and Sam B.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

CALEB

BAXTER

obin

yR Text b

Byrne

ere at BotanyLife, we have a bunch of fun and energetic Year 7 & 8’s. Xchange is our intermediate-aged ministry that provides thought-provoking and challenging studies, and exciting socials where our kids can let off a bit of steam! Xchange aims to transform young people with the knowledge of the gospel and His word and challenge them to live in a way that challenges their peers and the world around them. I love the way many of our kids have no problem inviting their friends to the studies or social events - awesome! This year they have been using the Panorama series for their studies. Along with great Bible study and discussion, they get to play games, have quizzes and work through their own customised Panorama journals. A big “thank-you” goes to our study leaders and assistants who do an outstanding job teaching and encouraging our kids on Sunday mornings. We are also very grateful to Sarah Rush who organises and runs the Xchange social events. These have all been very well attended with many of the kids bringing their friends along. Some of the socials this year have included a visit to Mt Albert aquatic centre, a movie night, games night and a big favourite - Jump! Some really exciting news is that Malcolm and Kylie Osborne have come on board in the last few months to lead Xchange (see the “Leadership Spotlight” article introducing them). They are both very excited and enthusiastic about their new role. We are grateful to have them and are looking forward to God using them to lead this important ministry. As we approach the end of the year, we have a number of our kids leaving Xchange to move up to ALTR and of course the Year 6 Jungle kids joining the Xchange ministry. Please be praying for all the kids as they make these moves!

Xchange Christmas Party. Sunday 11th Dec during the 11am service, bring a $2 secret santa gift

Our intermediate-aged ministry Xchange meet every Sunday during term time in the Discovery (Blue) whanau room during both services at Botany Downs Secondary College. We look forward to seeing some old and new faces with us soon!

YOUTH MINISTRY

Text by Robin Byrne.

ick and Tracey Hanne do an outstanding job of leading our ALTR high school ministry. We are so grateful to God for providing BotanyLife with this couple, who not only lead this ministry, but genuinely love being involved in our kid’s lives! I asked them to give me an update on what’s been going on this year at ALTR... ALTR continues to be a fun and supportive environment for our high school aged youth. We’ve had some great socials so far this year, from a J-themed party to an interactive mystery crime solving evening. Early in term 4 we also participated in a combined social with Auckland Bible Church and Greenlane Christian Centre who threw a masquerade ball complete with a live band. Some of us ‘old-fogies’ also got out on the dance floor and impressed with our old-school dance moves! As well as our socials, we also offer study group evenings and routinely invite guest speakers. The study groups, based on school year, allow for great fellowship and encouragement, while challenging each young person to get into God’s word for themselves. Guest speakers have ranged from a former African rebel-turned-evangelist, to a World Vision Youth Ambassador promoting the work of the Forty Hour Famine. The talks are relevant, fresh and thought provoking. We’ve had the great encouragement of seeing our youth band develop over the last two years to the point where they have led ALTR in worship at Switchon Camp and at some of our study nights during the term. This term we’re hoping to get in a few more great socials – a trip to the hot pools, an Amazing Race-style challenge at Auckland Airport, and much more! We will also be examining the questions that face young believers in the church with our study evenings. How can we be true to our faith while walking through trials and temptations that the world has to throw at us? If you’re at high school, we’d love to see you join us! We meet every Friday at Kotahi at 7pm through the school term. Pick up the latest ALTR calendar at church or from the church office during the week. We also have a Facebook page (ALTR Youth) and you can always get hold of Nick on 027 814 2736 or Tracey on 021 844 317. 29

OUR faith awakens

walk

DISCOVER A THIS Christmas CHRISTMAS • Discover a NEW new HOPE hope this SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER, 9am & 11am, Botany College 30

• sunday 18 December, 9am & 11am, Botany College

WHO’S THAT?

David Hamill Text by Robin Byrne.

AVID, TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND?

the church. I love the style of services. Awesome worship and great teaching, which is helping me understand and apply God’s word to my life!

I was born in 1995 in Auckland. I attended Meadowbank Primary, Remuera Intermediate and then Parnell College. When I was younger we spent a bit of time in London, Sydney, Christchurch and Hamilton as my father was training to be a paediatric surgeon. I still live in Meadowbank with my parents James and Arul, and my sister Michelle.

HOW ARE YOU INVOLVED HERE? I’ve been a drummer in the worship team since 2010. I love encouraging others to worship Him. Hopefully my “beats” will help do that! Haha! I’m also one of the ALTR leaders. I take one of the small group studies on our Friday night meetings. It’s a real privilege to be challenging our youth in their walk with God. For a couple of years, I’ve been part of Launch, one of our young adults community groups, which Vernon and Michelle Lomberg lead. This has had a solid effect on my life. The power of fellowship is not to be underestimated.

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO NOW, AND ANY IDEAS ABOUT WHAT YOU’D LIKE TO BE DOING IN THE FUTURE? I’m at Auckland University studying electrical engineering. At some point, I’d love to head to some third world countries and help design medical equipment. I want to make a difference in people’s lives! So I’m pretty open to God sending me anywhere! I’m also doing a bit of swim coaching in my spare time.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR PASSIONS/ INTERESTS? Music, drumming, swimming and maths - I get a kick out of solving those tough equations.

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR SPIRITUAL BACKGROUND AND HOW YOU CAME TO KNOW CHRIST?

WHERE IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRAVEL?

I was brought up in a Christian family. I’ve known Christ for as long as I can remember, but I decided to take my walk with God seriously around Year 12. The book ‘Crazy Love’ by Francis Chan had a profound effect on my life. His love is so radical, incredible and never ending! I also joined Student Life at University, which has really challenged me to be sharing my faith. I will be going on a mission’s trip in December which I’m really looking forward to.

I’m keen to go to some of the poorer countries. My father has some electrician friends in Vietnam, so I could possibly help them out there.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COMING TO BOTANYLIFE?

That’s easy, David of course! He had incredible faith in God at a young age. But also, even when he failed, he was still able to return to God. Another picture of God’s amazing grace and love!

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE FOOD? Mum says she can put anything on my plate and I’ll eat it!!! IF YOU COULD MEET A BIBLE CHARACTER WHO WOULD IT BE?

Since day one! My family was part of the core group that came over from Auckland Bible Church when we planted 31

Nev & Marg Williamson Text by Tina Funnell.

AFTER THEIR INITIAL SURPRISE THAT THEY HAD BEEN CHOSEN TO FEATURE IN OUR PORTAL MAGAZINE, AND RELAXING WITH A CUP OF TEA AND A SWEET, IT WAS LOVELY TO GET TO KNOW NEV (THE REV) & MARG WILLIAMSON (PARENTS TO FELLOW BOTANYLIFER, DEB HOSKING).

he couple met at a new job Marg started in Christchurch, where she discovered a certain new salesman was to start at the same time. As they say... the rest is history!

Nev was brought up in Christchurch, where his Dad was a dental surgeon. He has two brothers, one which he said “kicked him out of the womb” - his twin brother who was born breach. He was raised in the Exclusive Brethren 32

WHO’S THAT?

Church, where his dad was a preacher. Nev followed in his dad’s footsteps as a 15-year-old, preaching on the street corner, moving promptly to preach from the pulpit as an 18-year-old. He has had 50 years of preaching in every denomination, including Catholic churches and Maori marae’s, off-the-cuff. Thus, the name ‘Nev the Rev’ was born.

God has been faithful to Nev and Marg as they have lived by faith. Isaiah 6 - “Whom will I send?... I’ll provide needs not wants.” They have experienced many miracles, such as potatoes supplied when they had none to feed their family, all-expenses paid overseas trips to Australia for their family to have some time away, and a ticket to Billy Graham’s Conference for Evangelists in Amsterdam being paid for by random acquaintances, friends and workmates. The many lives that have been touched by God’s work through Nev’s, and later Marg’s chaplaincy would be incredible to read in a book. As they both said... we have never asked for money or gifts but God always provided at the right time.

After studying for his Diploma in Theology and being awarded the ACM by the Theological Colleges of NZ, Nev worked as an industrial chaplain for 22 years for big corporate companies, including Watties and Richmond meats in Hastings. An industrial chaplain (for those who don’t know) is someone who works for a business and actually offers workplace ministry to the business’s management and employees. Nev could be seen every day at the ‘rock face’ amongst the people, dressed in his ‘angel clothing’ i.e. dressed head to toe in the food manufacturing uniform of white.

Nev has also written a book called ‘Help In Times Of Need’ which has been and is a great support and comfort to his chaplaincy folk and many others. There are over 80,000 in print. The couple officially retired from chaplaincy, with Nev having performed 1500 funerals and 1100 weddings in his time. They retired to Australia to ‘help-out’ their son with the financial side of his trucking business in Melbourne. They lived in Coolangatta on the Gold Coast, which provided a lovely spot for their family in New Zealand to visit.

With exposure to over 5000 staff throughout the various firms and companies he has worked at (which include the factory workers, scientists, management, harvesters and freezing works divisions at Heinz/Watties), he has witnessed God’s work through him in many people’s lives. God has given him a number of opportunities to be there for people in their time of need, when they needed somebody to pray, counsel, marry, christen/dedicate, read their last rites, take funeral services, save people’s lives and preach.

A year ago, Nev and Marg returned to New Zealand where they have been living with Deb and Andy and their family in Somerville, awaiting their own self-contained flat to be built out the back of Deb’s house. The concrete was about to be poured the week I visited them. They are thoroughly enjoying being available to help with their grandchildren’s after school activities and the general running of a busy household.

Marg was brought up in Napier with five in her family. She was blessed with a wonderful Christian upbringing. Marg had worked with Youth for Christ in the past, so was also happy to be involved in chaplaincy when she was approached. Nev and Marg were the first-ever husband and wife chaplaincy team in Australasia. Her first week in the role involved an 18-year daughter of one of the staff who had been stabbed and then later died in hospital, and another staff member’s daughter giving birth to a stillborn baby. She feels blessed to have been given these opportunities to pray, not only for the staff members, but also their families at these sad times.

Nev loves to read, mostly Bible studies as he still preaches at the Howick Baptist Home, where Marg is also involved playing the organ and singing with the 50 elderly people in the Howick Baptist Day Care. Marg is a talented organist who can play by ear, so her time there is spent playing and singing anything that is requested. At BotanyLife they serve on the welcome team and are involved in the Aroha community group, while Marg also attends the High Tea women’s community group.

The amount of time that they both worked helping others necessitated their needing to have a break. They did have a caravan in Taupo to get away to, but more than once they had just arrived only to be met with a visit by the police or fire service who had tracked them down by their car number plate requesting that Nev return to Hastings as there was an urgent matter they needed him to attend to.

This couple are an inspiring godly couple who have dedicated their lives to allow Jesus to live through them to reach people - whoever they may be. One day I look forward to reading (and possibly writing) their Book of Miracles. 33

Owen Jennings, a member of our church, has written a book on missions: In this book, Missions Abandoned: Re-establishing missions as a priority in our lives and churches, Andrew Jit and Owen Jennings, describe reality as they see it—and then they help us deal with it. They help you define missions, both practically and biblically, then review a clear theology of missions, thus giving us the Biblical basis and our ‘reason for being.’ It is practical and easy to read, almost conversational. They make a strong case for integrating missions into the central core work of the entire church and its individual members. It has the power to awaken Christians to their responsibilities and reshape a church’s agenda.

“Missions Abandoned is an excellent resource with a fresh, practical, and unique insight into how individuals and Churches view missions. Convictions that I had were reinforced, a lot of new ideas brought to light, and some surprises were brought out. Anyone involved in missions on any level will benefit from what Andrew Jit and Owen Jennings have brought to light in Missions Abandoned.” Dermot O’Mahoney Elevate Community Church Limerick, Ireland. “Missions Abandoned does more than inform followers of Jesus, it challenges us to re-evaluate our commitment to missions and our passion for the lost. As you read this book you will not just be encouraged by the inspiring stories, you will want to be able to tell your own stories of living your life on mission.” Kyle Idleman Teaching Pastor at Southeast Christian Church Louisville, Kentucky

“Missions Abandoned has been birthed out of a deep well of real world experience and will no doubt become a textbook for modern day outreach. I'm so thankful for his obedience to the Lord in getting his knowledge, experience and teachings into these pages!” Phil Joel Lead singer of Zealand Worship Founder of deliberatePeople ministries “Missions Abandoned should be required reading for every new believer! With the unique candor of Kiwis, Andrew Jit and Owen Jennings extend a compelling call to discover the mission heart of God.” Greg Marksberry Director, Florida Church Partners Lead Pastor, Thrive Church, Orlando, Florida

Available now from amazon.com, missionsabandoned.com, or directly from Owen.

IN MEMORY

Vay Vivian

4th June 1941 to 2nd October 2016 Text by Brad Carr.

few weeks ago, we lost one of our founding church members, as Vay went to be with his Lord. While we have grieved with a number of BotanyLife families through the years as they have lost loved ones, it has been a number of years since we have lost one of our own members.

It was early in 1964 that Vay invited a gorgeous young woman from Thames to be his date to a friend’s 21st birthday. A year and a half later, Vay and Marion were married on 14th August 1965, in Waihi. The Lord blessed them with three wonderful children - a daughter Melissa, and two sons, Andrew and Ben. All three children are married to great spouses, and Vay and Marion are the proud grandparents of 11 delightful grandkids. A couple of months before he died, Vay and Marion celebrated 51 years of marriage together.

Vay and Marion have been part of our church family since the very beginning, and they have led our prayer ministry together through the almost 13 years of BotanyLife’s existence. They have also served faithfully on the greeting and morning tea teams, and used their gracious natures and mature wisdom to warmly encourage and counsel many people over the years.

At his funeral, which I had the privilege of leading, I shared a short message from Paul’s final letter to his young protégé Timothy. Paul wrote in 2 Tim 4:

Some may not realise that Vay was an accomplished musician. At his funeral in Thames, we played two recordings of Vay playing the trumpet as an 18 year old that were simply spectacular. Those pieces of music were apparently recorded the night before he left for London, to study at the prestigious Trinity College of Music. He had already won a New Zealand music championship at the tender age of 13, and then at 18 was the first and youngest Fellow from New Zealand to study at Trinity College.

FOR I AM ALREADY BEING POURED OUT LIKE A DRINK OFFERING, AND THE TIME FOR MY DEPARTURE IS NEAR. I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, I HAVE FINISHED THE RACE, I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH. NOW THERE IS IN STORE FOR ME THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH THE LORD, THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE, WILL AWARD TO ME ON THAT DAY AND NOT ONLY TO ME, BUT ALSO TO ALL WHO HAVE LONGED FOR HIS APPEARING.

Music played a significant role in Vay’s life. He spent most of his working life as an itinerant music teacher in brass instruments, working in high schools across Auckland from Pukekohe to the North Shore. He also spent a decade in the 1980’s as the national manager of the Yamaha Music School, and during that time expanded that school of music from one branch in Auckland to more than 25 across the country.

In my mind, those words beautifully summed up Vay’s life. Vay would never have claimed that for himself; he was an incredibly humble man. But as I said at the funeral, Vay was quite simply one of the most encouraging and gracious people I have ever met. He fought the good fight, he finished the race, he kept the faith. And I believe this gracious, gentle servant of God received a rich welcome into heaven (2 Peter 1:11). I look forward to seeing him again one day.

One of the greatest challenges he faced as a music teacher was when the Head of Music at Howick College asked Vay to teach a boy to play an instrument even though he had no arms. Vay taught him how to use his feet to hold a bugle, and the young man was thrilled to be able to play the ‘Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’ at the Howick Anzac Day Parade. 35

grab a comfy seat, turn the volume up, pull the family together, grab some popcorn, it’s...

Movie | RISEN

Review Time I love director Kevin Reynolds for not attempting yet another portrayal of a Jesus crucifixion that can never be awful enough, or real enough to do history justice. Instead, and certainly more memorably, we find an already dead Jesus, in the haunting eyes of New Zealander Cliff Curtis.

Reviewed by Tricia Stevenson

Length: 107 minutes | Age: PG13 | Release: 2016

“Witness the Manhunt That Changed the Course of Human History” Worth your time, this movie is fascinating and not to be missed.

The investigation that follows, as Clavius hunts down the body after it goes missing, is genius and rivals any CSI suspense for its scenery, and drama. The script too is brilliant, with a host of characters speaking depth into an well crafted story in a way that does not defy its Biblical roots.

Clavius (Joseph Fiennes), an ambitious Roman tribune, is charged with bringing order back to the streets of Jerusalem by finding the presumed stolen body of the recently crucified Jesus (Cliff Curtis), so as to crush growing rumours that he has come back to life as the Jewish Messiah. Fiennes plays a convincing Roman soldier, suitably sceptical of the unfolding events, but with enough brawn and honour (and get-up) to be a blockbuster-worthy hero.

Risen brings the Jerusalem of 33AD to life with all its dryness and military occupation, with its Pharisees and Roman mechanisms, with its blue sky and haze. It brings the reality and wonder of Jesus’ resurrection to life superbly. 36

Game | THE AETHERLIGHT

Reviewed by Charli Funnell

Length: 87 minutes | Age: PG | Release: 2016 | My Rating: 8/10

Reviewed by Mack & Ben Palmer

The Secret Life of Pets is an animated movie about a dog called Max, who lives a fairy tale life in New York with his owner, Katie. But – like all good fairy tales – there is a bad guy. In this case, Duke, a large dog who, Max feels, is determined to make Max’s life a misery. So when Max mysteriously disappears in the company of Duke, it is up to Max’s friends, Gidget, Chloe, Tiberius, Sweet Pea, Buddy, Pops and Mel, to find him. But there’s a twist, a mad rabbit is right on their tails.

The Aetherlight is an epic computer game for kids, full of missions and quests. From resisting against evil to learning about God in a fun steampunk themed environment, this game is definitely awesome. On theaetherlight.com, parents can read all about the game, learn about how the Bible connects with this epic adventure, and even sign their kids up - all for free! This fun game is ‘crafted’ to help bring the message of God to an online generation. Kids will love the amazing graphics, easy-but-awesome gameplay, the well imagined world of Athaesia (a bit of a mouthful, we know), the great stories and how they link to God.

I loved how, in the moments that were supposed to be sad, turned into probably the funniest parts of the movie. My favourite part would be when Pops, the old dog, completely makes up everyone’s names, then, Chloe says “100% wrong.” It is very funny. I don’t really have a worst part, but I didn’t really like how it was quite predictable in the end. This movie would be suitable for 5-9 year olds or audiences who love pets. I give this movie a rating of eight out of ten.

Download it NOW!!! Your kids will love this game and you will love that they are having so much fun learning about God. We are kids ourselves, and we give it a 10 1/2 out of 10. Note that there are costs for additional episodes, but the first one is free. Other people should DEFINITELY get this game because it is soooooo cool and kids can learn about God alongside friends, while having a ton of fun. Join the steampunk world of Aetherlight and start resisting today! (Even you mums and dads would love it too!)

DISCLAIMER: These reviews contain personal opinions of the reviewers and do not necessarily reflect the views of BotanyLife Community Church. For more specific information on movies and music, check out www.pluggedin.com. 37

REVIEWS

Movie | SECRET LIFE OF PETS

MARRIAGE / PARENTING

Disagreeing Agreeably Text by Nikki Bray.

ust this morning Andy said to me “Honey I think we’ll agree to disagree agreeably on this one.” That’s a good statement to hang on to in marriage - especially the ‘agreeably’ bit.

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.

I’m watching re-runs of Downton Abbey at the moment. I just love how the English are so courteous and yet manage to speak candidly. But then I would think that, right? I’m English :) In an episode last night, a comment was made that struck a chord with me. Carlson, the butler, said to Mrs Hughes, the house manager, “I don’t like it when we’re on opposite pages. I find it disturbing. I like to be on the same page with you.” Over 26 years of marriage, Andy and I have found ourselves on opposite pages - often. And I’ve never liked it. In fact, I used to think that if we disagreed, we had a serious problem. But Andy reminds me, “if we always thought the same, then what’s the point of one of us being here.” And of course he’s perfectly right. He’ll like that :)

politically engaged. I think it’s essential to being a responsible member of society.”

Because we are so different, we have challenged one another’s ideas and thinking, and ultimately grown in the process. It’s taken a while to get it right, but we’re allowing each other the freedom to influence one another. However it does help to have good strategies, right? Dr Susan Heitler, in her book “The Power of Two” talks about using the AAA principle. It’s a strategy for expressing disagreements which enable those of us with differing viewpoints to keep our conversations harmonious. And I like it. Here’s an example of such a disagreement between a couple: Jeremy loves talking politics - his wife, Brenda, does not. A conversation may go something like this: J: “You should get more politically engaged. I think it’s essential to being a responsible member of society.”

A = Agree. Listen for an aspect to agree with. It can help to start with ‘yes’. e.g. Brenda: “Yes I agree that people need to be politically informed.”

A = Augment (or Amplify). Elaborate on a specific word or idea you agreed with, seeking to find some level of understanding. e.g. Brenda: “Particularly when it comes to voting. Look at Brexit.”

A = Add. Add your input to the discussion (avoid using ‘but’). This gives a win-win outcome and says “your input and mine both matter.” e.g. Brenda: “I’d be open to share my political thoughts, I’m just worried what will happen to our relationship if I disagree with you.”

Rather than shutting down the conversation, not only does Brenda show respect for Jeremy’s position but she also gives him a reason to understand why she thinks differently.

B: “Not in my house. I hate political discussions.” J: “And that’s our problem right there.” The conversation stops and silence ensues.

So as Andy and I find ourselves on different pages again this morning, I’m reminding myself that agreement isn’t the goal in marriage - the goal is understanding. And I’m getting to understand him a little more every day.

Now let’s put Dr Heitler’s AAA principle to the test: (I repeat) Jeremy says to Brenda: “You should get more 38

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ON GUIDE

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on at BotanyLife... Thursday 1st December

Sunday 4th December

Carols at Botany

Panorama Review

Sunday 18th December Christmas Family Services at 9 and 11am

Sunday 25th December Christmas Day / No church service

Sunday 5th February Two services begin again at 9am and 11am

Sunday 18th December Christmas on Ice

Sunday 1st January No church service

Sunday 12th February Vision Sunday

Sunday 11th December BotanyKids Christmas Parties

Saturday 24th December Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Sunday 8th January Summer series begins (one service at 10am for summer)

Saturday 18th February BotanyLife Team Training Day

COMMUNITY PROJECT 2016 @ MACLEANS PRIMARY