Issue 15 | Jan - Sept 2017
04
Contents 04
Feature Article Multiply Vision
07
Staff Changes
08
Leadership Spotlight Meet Mel Dunford
10
Reflection Worship
18
12
Outreach - Splash Party 2017 - Hollywood Quiz Night
16
Regional/National Partners Willow Park, Mission Impossible: Kids Camp 2017
18
Global Outreach Barnabas School of Leadership
20
Community Groups Meet our new groups, Drive and Recharge
22
Children’s Ministry Behind the scenes look at our children’s ministry
26
Youth Ministry Hear what Xchange and Altr have been up to
28
New Sprouts Meet the latest additions to our church family
29
Who’s That? Get to know some of our fellow members in the church
32
Reviews Grab a comfy seat, turn the volume up, rustle the family together and grab some popcorn
34
Marriage and Parenting Blame by Nikki Bray
35
What’s On at BotanyLife? Get your pens out and mark these dates on your calendar
12
2
BOTANYLIFE COMMUNITY CHURCH {STAFF} LEAD PASTOR - BRAD (AND ROCHELLE) CARR COMMUNITY PASTOR - MARK (AND STEPH) VAN WIJK CHILDREN’S PASTOR - MEL (AND DREW) PALMER WORSHIP AND GROUPS PASTOR - ROBIN (AND SONIA) BYRNE KOTAHI MANAGER - MEL (AND JULIAN) THORBURN EVENTS MANAGER - MEL DUNFORD TRUST ADMINISTRATOR - CHARLOTTE (AND NATHANAEL) GRAY
{ELDERS} BRAD (AND ROCHELLE) CARR STU (AND IANTHE) JONES ANDRE (AND CHRISTL) KIRSTEIN KK (AND SUSAN) LEONG STEVE (AND ROBYN) YOUNG
3
Text by Brad Carr.
THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS Two centuries ago, the first missionaries arrived in Aotearoa to bring the good news of Jesus to the people of this land. On Christmas Day in 1814, Samuel Marsden stood above the beach at Oihi Bay, and announced to the Ngapuhi people the good news of great joy concerning the coming of Jesus, the Saviour who had come for all peoples (Luke 2:10-11). From that small beginning, thousands of people in New Zealand - Maori, Pakeha, and many other ethnicities - have embraced this good news and become part of the church that Jesus is building from every nation, tribe, people and language (Revelation 7:9).
O
ver the past year the elders and pastors of BotanyLife have been praying, dreaming and talking together about the future of our church family. Our 5-year vision called “Shine,” that we had launched at the beginning of 2012, was coming to an end in 2016, and we began to focus on developing a new long-term vision for our church.
Today, millions now call Aotearoa home, as wave after wave of immigrants have landed on these shores over the past two hundred years. However, many who have come here have no relationship with God or a real understanding of the person of Jesus. Likewise, the vast majority of those raised here as sons and daughters of immigrants, grow up with little biblical knowledge and no understanding of a relationship with Christ. This is a country in deep need of spiritual awakening, where new missionaries are needed to once again bring the good news of great joy to a people in spiritual darkness.
Having planted and established BotanyLife over the last 13 years, what should the future look like? Where is God taking us? What kind of church do we want to be? What new challenges do we want to take on? Where are we going? Over a series of months, the leadership developed and then refined an emerging vision. It began to take shape during a retreat day that we had together in June of last year. After a number of drafts of some potential ideas, we then shared that vision with 50 to 60 key leaders in our wider leadership group, getting their perspective and insight. And then in February, we launched our new “Multiply” vision, with the dream of multiplying the impact of God’s grace in our community and nation over the next 15 years. 4
FEATURE ARTICLE servant-hearted disciples of Jesus who are mature and grounded in their faith, and who long to be used by God to reach those lost in darkness. We also dream of multiplying an abundance of mature servant-leaders for the Church, and joyfully releasing a number of those into other churches and ministries.
Over the next 15 years, our dream as a church family is to multiply the impact of God’s grace in our community and across our city, nation and world. • We dream of multiplying the number of people at BotanyLife who view themselves as missionaries to this community and country. We dream of multiple Christ-followers functioning as front-yard missionaries for Him, building strategic relationships, passionately praying, and then prayerfully looking for opportunities to share Jesus with the lost friends.
• And as we multiply disciples and leaders, we dream of multiplying new campuses and churches as new missionary outposts in this spiritually needy country. We dream of replicating the ministry of BotanyLife by starting new campuses of our church in other communities across Auckland, that reach more people with the gospel and help to transform more local communities. We also dream of helping to launch new churches across Aotearoa, as the Lord opens doors and provides opportunities. And we dream of navigating fresh challenges together with other church leaders, assisting and serving other churches within the Living Stones Network and beyond.
• As we multiply missionaries, we dream of multiplying the number of people who come to faith in Jesus through BotanyLife. We dream of multiplying the ethnic diversity of our church family, strategically reaching out to other cultures to reflect the multi-ethnic community in which we live and to celebrate the diversity of the Body of Christ. We also dream of multiplying our impact in the community, as we develop more ways to compassionately serve the broken, poor and needy in our community and region.
• And all of this will be built on a desire to multiply our dependency on God as we seek him through ongoing prayer and faithful obedience, walking by faith and not by sight.
• As we multiply our impact and diversity as people come to faith, we dream of multiplying the number of
5
THE NEXT THREE YEARS
• Discipleship pipeline: we want to develop a comprehensive discipling and training program, to proactively disciple people, especially young adults, to be passionate Christ-followers; and to grow increasing numbers of godly servant-leaders.
To begin moving towards this future dream of multiplying the impact of God’s grace, the church leadership have identified four key initiatives that we believe we need to pursue in the next three years. These initiatives will help lay a strong foundation for our new Multiply vision.
• Life-long missionaries: we want everyone to see themselves as a life-long missionary in this community, prayerfully looking for opportunities to share our faith with all peoples, while developing new outreach initiatives and programs as a church.
• Culture of prayer: we want to grow a culture within our church of prayerful dependency on God, that transforms life with Him into an adventure of faith and underpins our ongoing life and mission. This is the major focus for 2017. However, the goal is not to add more prayer meetings or gatherings - rather, we long to see prayer become a more natural part of each service, group, meeting, and relationship. We want prayer to be our natural instinct.
• Growing resources: we want to prepare to multiply future campuses and churches by updating key systems; maximising Kotahi within our local community; and hiring a youth pastor as the next key staff member.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Just as the church is made up of individual people, so the accomplishment of any vision lies in each person getting on board and playing their part in making it happen. As you read through the long-term vision for our church, what excites you and stirs your heart? How do you plan to grow your impact for God? Over these next three years, our prayer is that each person at BotanyLife would grow in prayer as they walk with God more closely; grow as a disciple of Jesus, becoming more like him; grow in outreach, as each one of us takes up the challenge to be a missionary to this community and country; and grow generously, as we use our time, talents and treasures to help make this vision a reality.
WE HOPE YOU’LL JOIN US.
6
Text by Brad Carr.
n the last Portal magazine, published at the end of 2016, I wrote a small article outlining some key staff changes in the church office, as we brought Mel Dunford onto staff and prepared to farewell Mandy Francis. However, as 2017 has progressed we have had some more exciting changes to the staff team, so I’d like to briefly explain those changes and introduce our newest staff member. Mandy finished up her role as Project Manager for Kotahi in May, and has subsequently picked up a new role with her former employer, Watercare. We had a fantastic farewell party for Mandy as a staff team, dressing up as superheroes and trying to solve a murder mystery together. We are incredibly grateful for the work that Mandy accomplished over the past five years, especially in completing the development of Kotahi. Mel Dunford joined staff in November 2016 as our new Events manager, and also took over the administration of the trust from Mandy, and the church accounts from Mel Thorburn. This was to enable Mel T to concentrate on her new role as the manager of Kotahi. However, what we discovered through the first half of this year is that both the Kotahi and events responsibilities are much bigger than we had originally thought. In light of that, the elders recently began discussing adding another staff member to our admin team, to help share the responsibilities. In light of those discussions, we have recently hired Charlotte Gray as our newest member of staff. Charlotte and her husband Nathanael have been part of BotanyLife for a number of years, although they have recently spent time in both Christchurch and London before returning to Auckland. Charlotte is a trained journalist and high school teacher, and has left her full-time teaching position to work for the church three days a week (she is relief teaching the other two days). She brings an amazing and varied skillset to our team. Charlotte has taken over the administration and accounts of the trust from Mel Dunford, as well as responsibility for the church accounts. She has also taken over the editor role for Portal from Mel Thorburn, to allow Mel more time to manage and run Kotahi. We also plan to utilise Charlotte’s editing and writing skills with a number of other publishing projects. This means that Mel Dunford has more time to manage our upcoming events as well as handling the administration of our Sunday services. Mel D will also be providing some admin support for BotanyKids (freeing up some of Mel Palmer’s time) and the ALTR youth group. She is also our main receptionist at the office, so it is her friendly face and voice that you will see or hear when you call. So the new roles look like this: MEL THORBURN - Kotahi Manager / Communications MEL DUNFORD - Events Manager / Reception CHARLOTTE GRAY - Trust Administrator / Publishing We are so thankful to God for the incredible staff team that he has provided us at BotanyLife. Please continue to pray for all of the staff and elders as we provide leadership to our church family.
7
LEADERSHIP
I
Staff Changes
Mel Dunford Text by Mel Thorburn.
I
’d like to introduce Melanie Jane Dunford - one of the new additions to the BotanyLife staff team. Yes, you read that right... her name is Mel. Let’s just say, it seems you are fairly sure of a job at BotanyLife if your name starts with Melanie Jane - she is after all the third Melanie Jane to join us! Mel Dunford has recently taken the position of Events Manager for the church. I sat down with her (outside work hours!) to find out all the important details for you to get to know (and distinguish) her better.
who she married at the age of 21. Moving back to New Zealand with him was a big change; very different from the fairytale travelling life. Unfortunately, after a while the relationship became unsafe and Mel had to leave the family home. It was a few years later that Mel met Mark. Together, they began attending Café Church in Karangahape Road. They married in 2006, and had their first baby, Joshua in 2007. Joshua is now 10 and is a really inquisitive young man. Very attuned to others feelings, he often seems older than his tender young age. Three years later, Ella arrived. She is now 7 years old and is the complete opposite of Joshua (and her mum). She is a real Energizer bunny who is full of life every second of the day. Sadly, in 2015 Mark decided to leave the family and Mel is now courageously raising these little treasures as a solo mum. In the same year, Mel also lost her beloved Granny, and a best friend from childhood. This traumatic time was an incredible test of Mel’s faith - but she has never ever doubted His hand on her. She has made it a choice to be happy and block the negative thoughts. Her mantra is from Psalm 42: 5 which she reads each morning. It has steadfastly kept her grounded.
It becomes apparent early in the time we start chatting that there have been a number of major incidents that happened in her family life and to those close to her that have really impacted not only who she is, but also her faith in God. Mel grew up in Shropshire, in the scenic midlands of the United Kingdom as the youngest of three sisters. When she was 4 years old, her parents divorced. Shortly afterwards, her father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For all the time that Mel can remember, he was unable to talk. During her weekends, she often traveled by train to visit her dad, whose condition had worsened over the years. He was now being cared for at her grandparents’ house. During these weekends spent staying with her grandparents, she remembers many times spent baking with her granny, and feeling so cherished and precious. This time was blissful for her and became hugely special to Mel.
So where did this strong faith come into Mel’s story? Whilst Mel’s older sister Sam was at college, she attended a Christian Union and gave her life to Christ. She came home raving about it, leaving her mum wondering, “What on earth has my daughter been sucked into?” The following year, Mel’s mum survived a really bad car crash, walking away with only a few bruises. The car was completely flattened and she should have died. That summer, Sam took her mum to an evangelistic meeting, where Mel’s mum gave her life to God. The family then began regularly attending summer camps at Malvern Christian camp, where her mum was later baptised. At subsequent Christian camps both Mel (aged 8) and her sister Emma (aged 13) also chose to follow God. These camps were a real highlight for Mel - they were her time to connect with God, run around with friends and a period of time where she felt really happy.
Unfortunately, her pre-teen and teen years held several challenges. She had been enjoying spending more time with her mum, but found it tricky to adjust when her mum married again. She also lost a close friend and her father within this same year. After leaving college, Mel lost a best friend in a car crash. She decided to take a break and head overseas travelling for two years; nannying, doing chalet work, learning to ski in France. Whilst on this overseas adventure, Mel met a Kiwi guy 8
upcoming weeks, helping accumulate prize piles for Connect events, writing birthday cards…or something else entirely! What she enjoys most about working in the office, Mel says, is not just how often she finds herself laughing (though that is a highlight). It also feels like a very safe space. “The more pressure, the more everyone lends a hand and the more fun we have. And it’s ok to ask questions!” “When you have no choice but to do something, you have to push past your limits. I think that’s why God put me in this situation.” While she has helped out with other tasks over the past ten months, her focus is now Events Management and Reception. Her favourite event so far? “Hollywood Quiz, hands down. It was so much fun to do the glamour and glitz. Any excuse to dress up!”
Mel has experienced many miracles that confirmed God’s control over her life and have helped her to believe that He was looking after her family. There has never been a time when she doubted her relationship with God. But in her late teens, she did find herself disagreeing with her church. A rather strict minister took over the church her family had been attending and told her she wasn’t an actual member of the church as she hadn’t signed the necessary piece of paper to affirm it. Mel didn’t feel this reflected what God taught and as a teenager... rebelled!
A FEW QUICK-FIRE QUESTIONS TO FINISH: What’s your favourite dessert? There are too many! Dessert is my thing. I’d rather go without dinner and just have dessert. Top of the list is tiramisu... Susan Leong makes an awesome one! I also love apple crumble with ice-cream.
It wasn’t until her move to New Zealand that she reconnected with church, through Café Church. However, a lack of accountability and structure in this style of church led Mel to begin searching and praying for a new church. Whilst having a coffee in the café at Te Tuhi with her young kids one day, she was approached by Nicola Mountfort and invited to join the mainly music session BotanyLife was running. The welcoming friendly nature of the mainly music team and other mums opened the door to Mel and Mark heading along to BotanyLife church. From here, she ended up joining the mainly music team of helpers and also serving in the Greenhouse and Orchard pre-school ministries where her kids were.
What is the one place in the world you’d like to visit and why? The Amalfi Coast in Italy - though it’s a lot further away from my home here than when I used to live in the UK! It is so beautiful. I love lemons, anything to do with lemons, and the Amalfi Coast is famous for them. When you get free time, what do you like to do with it? Running, movies and books. I love reading - books are a passion, but I never have the time! What book (if any) are you reading at present?
The Soul Sisters community group has played a huge part in Mel feeling loved and supported through her recent difficult times. Her community group helped her move from her Clark’s Beach home into her new flat; arranging the furniture to help create a new home for Mel and the kids to live. She is a huge advocate for being part of a small group, who can really know you and your needs.
The only book I make time for (besides the Bible) is my lifeline... Streams in the Desert: 366 Daily Devotionals by LB Cowman. I’m a romantic and this has beautiful poetry and talks about the hardship of life with wonderful Bible verses. What’s one piece of advice about being a solo mum? Learning to be happy in the mess of life. You can’t constantly wait for it to be fixed or for a sense of satisfaction. Paul says it best when he said ‘being content in everything’ not finding the I K N OW W H AT I T I S T O B E IN N E E D , A N D I K N OW WH AT I T happy things, I S T O H AV E P L E N T Y . just letting go and saying it’s I have learned the secret a mess and of being content in any this is life, but and every situation, you can still be W H E T H E R W E L L F ED OR happy in that H U N GR Y , W H E T H E R L IV IN G IN mess. P L E N T Y O R I N W A N T.
The amount of love and support received from BotanyLife church and Soul Sisters is what she believes church is all about. “BotanyLife does this so well, they do what God wants from a church, the church is the people and the church is loving each other. That’s what church is about.” Her new role in the church office was another sign of God’s will in her life. Mel initially said no to Brad twice when offered the job, feeling reluctant to take on what seemed a daunting responsibility. However, she felt God’s prompting; constantly bombarded with signs when praying about it. She decided to step out in trust for what he was challenging her to do. Now, nearly ten months in, Mel is feeling much more settled in her role. Her day is never short on variety; you might find her finalizing the order of a Sunday service, checking the rosters for
PHILIPPIA N S 4: 1 2
9
LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT
She loved that feeling of being a part of God’s family. When her grandparents were in their 70s they also became Christians and got baptized - all stemming from one child in the family becoming a Christian at college!
REFLECTION
WORSHIP Text by Robin Byrne.
T
HEREFORE, I URGE YOU, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, IN VIEW OF GOD’S MERCY, TO OFFER YOUR BODIES AS A LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY AND PLEASING TO GOD - THIS IS YOUR TRUE AND PROPER WORSHIP.
At any given Sunday service at BotanyLife, we are committed to responding to the revelation of God. We carefully plan our services so that everything, from songs to the sermon, prayers, readings, items, or dramas, all carry a strong theme of a part of His revelation. We sing biblically-inspired songs like “How Great is our God” which proclaims His beauty, majesty and greatness. “My Saviour Lives” celebrates Jesus’ incredible resurrection and “O Come to the Altar” reminds us that we can come to God just as we are - “the Father’s arms are open wide”.
DO NOT CONFORM TO THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND. THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TEST AND APPROVE WHAT GOD’S WILL IS - HIS GOOD, PLEASING AND PERFECT WILL. (ROMANS 12:1-2)
As our view of His revelation expands, so will our response! God wants and deserves our best.
As God’s word clearly states, worship is an “all of life” response to God and His incredible mercy and love!
I say all of this as an encouragement to all of us to continually offer ourselves to God as “living sacrifices” and to allow our Sunday morning experience to be an extension of that.
William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury during World War II, wrote, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” Temple’s definition of worship is centered around revelation.
The psalmist put it beautifully, PRAISE THE LORD, MY SOUL. I WILL PRAISE THE LORD ALL MY LIFE; I WILL SING PRAISE TO MY GOD AS LONG AS I LIVE. (PSALM 146:1) PRAISE THE LORD. HOW GOOD IT IS TO SING PRAISES TO OUR GOD, HOW PLEASANT AND FITTING TO PRAISE HIM! (PSALM 147:1)
In his recent book The Heart of Worship Files, Matt Redman responded, “Here’s a man [Temple] who knew that to get people caught up in the holiness, truth and beauty of God, results in the devotion of their wills to the purpose of God. Our whole lives need to be poured out in worship. And in the end, that is the ultimate response of anyone who has truly recognised the all-consuming revelation of God!”
Take some time to seek Him to prepare your soul, and as we come together as a family to glorify God and open his word, your heart will be ready for his spirit to challenge and change you! 10
The world's best tasting act of kindness. Imagine you’re a poor hill-tribe farmer in the rugged mountains north of Chiang Mai in Thailand. You have no access to fresh water, food is scarce and you are heavily in debt to loan sharks. They have lent you money at 10% interest a month in order to grow crops on a small piece of land and it's unlikely you'll ever be out of debt. Life is grim and, as you don't have official Thai citizenship, government help is inaccessible. Or Imagine you're a young woman working in one of Bangkok's notorious red light districts. You have been sold into prostitution by your family to pay off a debt and now you are trapped in a brutal and degrading life with little hope of escape. You have to sell yourself every day, with just one day off a month. Everyone around you exploits you and sees you merely as a mechanism for earning money. It is these people that the sale of La Mai coffee supports. It is our passion and commitment to give hope to the poor and exploited in Thailand that drives us. Through La Mai coffee we are doing something to help these people, and when you drink La Mai coffee, so are you. La Mai coffee is very high quality arabica coffee from the highlands of Thailand, and is custom-roasted in small batches by expert coffee roasters Coffee Worx, based in Christchurch. Head to www.lamai.co.nz to place your order today, and experience The world’s best tasting act of kindness.
11 31
MYA ROPER Splash was awesome because… of all the water we got to use. We had a huge water fight! The best thing I did at Splash was…the waterslide! It was so slippery and fun. The water was cold, but the dark green slide warmed me up!
HANNAH MOLLOY Splash was awesome because… there were slides and a bouncy castle and I liked the water slide where you got pulled along. And the foam machine! What was the best thing about Splash? Xavier getting drenched at the bingo table instead of me!
12
Splash was awesome because‌we got to play on the water slide and the water cannon and the money that we raised went to help other kids in Thailand. What was the best thing you did at Splash? Balancing the cup of water on my head.
Earlier this year we held a special outreach fun day for BotanyKids and their friends, 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 $457.40, which was $100 above last year – how awesome to be able to help even more! Mark van Wijk and Mel Palmer came and shared with the kids what their money would go towards. Kids and adults alike had a great time. IS IT TIME FOR SPLASH 2018 YET?
13
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
SAMANTHA KAVUMBURA
W Y OO L L O D H IZ NIGH U T Q Text by Tina Funnell.
HOLLYWOOD QUIZ NIGHT Saturday 27 May 2017 at 7:30pm in Kotahi Dress to impress!
S
o this is what it feels like to be a celebrity! As I arrived at Kotahi on this very special evening, the red carpet had been rolled out, the paparazzi was there and we were being escorted to a carpark closest to the door. We even had a rather enthusiastic fan demanding our autographs as we got out of the car... I had put on my best outfit and got my hair and make-up done. I was looking forward to spending time with some lovely Soul Sisters (and Misters) and debating what answers we were going to put down for our quiz. You may remember hearing about this fancy evening out. You may even have been privileged enough to be there; amongst the glitz, glamour, amazing array of food, drinks, entertainment and exciting prizes! This was none other than the BotanyLife Hollywood Quiz Night. As we were walked in we were shown to our seats. The tables looked amazing, glitzy and with small gifts for everyone. Once all our glamorous quiz team had arrived, we had a publicity shot taken. It was so exciting to see who else was there and what they were wearing. The amount of effort put in by everyone was outstanding! We were privileged enough to have Bryn Thompson MCing the evening with his great sense of humour and endearing stories. His lovely wife, dressed to the nines, was involved behind the scenes with the quiz marking. The food was delicious. Platters of food on the tables of sweets and savouries, along with flavoured popcorn, sweets 14 14
and drinks to help yourself to whenever you were peckish. Mocktails, juices, Bundabergs of all flavours, tea and real coffees... WOW! The quiz itself was punctured by small challenges between rounds to keep the evening rolling. At one point, I found myself on stage as a finalist in one of these mini-challenges, competing against another finalist to win. It was a little nerve-wracking but such a joy to see all the beautiful people out in the audience. Who were the quiz winners, you ask? First place went to La La Moonlight with an impressive 90 points. Rumour has it that several were teachers, which clearly worked to their advantage! There were, however, quite a number of spot prizes during the evening and for the challenges as well. Of course, none of this could have been possible without Staci working behind the scenes to obtain the prizes, which had been kindly donated by local businesses. Well done and congratulations to all the winners! Overall, I was so impressed with the atmosphere, the high class decorations and the running of the evening. The amazing events planner Mel Dunford and her assistant Staci McLean, along with their team of hard working and innovative helpers will definitely be one to call for my next party. The calibre of paparazzi and the security was also first class. SUCH AN EVENING TO REMEMBER!
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
15
COMMUNITY CENTRE PARTNERS REGIONAL/NATIONAL
M:P 17 MISSION:POSSIBLE KIDZ CAMP 2017 Text by Mel and Ben Palmer.
W
illow Park is an awesome facility right on our doorstep at Eastern Beach. BotanyLife have chosen to partner with them as one of our National Outreach partners, which means we support them in a variety of ways as a church, including promoting and praying for them as a ministry, sharing equipment and resources, and sending leaders and staff to help run children’s camps. Our involvement with these kids’ holiday camps is very exciting for us as it creates opportunities for lots of different groups to get involved. Adults, teens and kids are all an important part of the kids’ camp experience. During the last school holidays, 25 BotanyLifers joined the fun. We had adult helpers, teen leaders, worship team members, leaders-in-training and campers.
On Tuesday we went down to the beach to do an ANZAC service. We listened to a poem and then put rose petals on the water while the Last Post music played. We had a minute of silence and someone prayed. I really enjoyed it, especially since it was 100 years this year since my great grandfather was in World War I. At Sesh, Mum talked about the Armour of God. We did the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Shoes of Peace, the Helmet of Salvation, the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit. On the last day we talked about prayer. I really enjoyed this session because we got to pray at the end. In cabin time we made armour out of craft supplies trying to show what we learnt in sesh. One of the leaders, Keegan, learnt all the memory verses!!!!
My son Ben was a camper for the second time at this camp. I asked him to write about his experience.
WELCOME PLEASE REGISTER INSIDE
The April kids’ camp was called Mission Possible. It was spy themed and Mark made some really cool Spy I.D. badges for everyone.
I invited some of my friends and we ended up having a whole cabin of them! They all had a great time. I think they will come back. My Uncle Will was impressed that Callum did duties like setting tables and doing the cooks’ dishes. I’d rather not do duties but at camp it is OK.
Camp is really fun. If you are Year 5 to 8 you should go as a camper. The theme is Road Trip - it’s going to be epic. As Ben said - the next camp has a Road Trip theme! We will be going on a mystery bus tour! How exciting is that?
We did some cool activities like quad bikes, trampolining, mini golf and capture the flag. At theme dinner we had to attack some of the adult help - and protect some too! My team was supposed to protect my mum but we didn’t. She got killed with a peg on her top - boom!
If you have kids in year 5-8 I’d love to encourage you to send them along and to invite their friends! If cost is an issue please talk to us…and if anyone feels like sponsoring a kid to go to camp, I’m sure there would be some grateful recipients!
16
WILLOW P A
R
K
WILLOW PARK CHRISTIAN CAMP
NZ KIDZ CAMP 2017
WILLOW PARK CHRISTIAN CAMP
NZ KIDZ CAMP 2017
SCHOOL YEARS
5-8
PER
8-12
$195 R
CA
OCT ‘17
MP
E
PLUS A MYSTERY
BUS TRIP
REGISTER ONLINE AT WWW.WILLOWPK.ORG.NZ
17
ENQUIRIES: PHONE PETER (09) 534 9640 1 HOSTEL ACCESS ROAD, EASTERN BEACH, AUCKLAND
GLOBAL OUTREACH: Barnabas School of Learning
“Come Over and Help Us”
Text by Rowland and Elaine Forman.
F
ew things in ministry have come close to the fulfilment Elaine and I have felt as we have mentored and trained leaders like these amazing pastors and evangelists in Myanmar. Compared to us in the West, they are hugely under-resourced. Yet in terms of passion for Christ and the gospel, they would leave most of us in the dust.
• I n the next four years, 5 million new faith communities will be planted, yet at the current rate, up to 70 percent of them will fail in the first year. • W hile at least 2.2 million pastoral leaders are functioning as shepherds, only 5 percent of them are trained for pastoral ministry. BSL is a very small part of what God is doing to provide training in servant-leadership for these under-resourced leaders. We feel so inadequate and desperately need your prayers.
Barnabas School of Leadership, or BSL, is made up of four one-week modules spread over two years. One of our DNA statements is, “We train the trainers.” That drives our recruitment process as well as what these pastor-trainers do in between the four modules. They take BSL courses with them so they can train leaders in their churches.
What most excites us, though is the concept of multiplication. In July, we headed to Ghana to partner with Restoration Ministries as we commenced a BSL group there. They asked us to coach them as we teach the modules so that they can start BSLs in eight West African nations like Cote D’Voire, Togo, Sierra Leone and Niger.
Why Barnabas School of Leadership? We’ve chosen that name based on a nickname the First Century church gave to Joseph. He was so relational that they called him Barnabas or “Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4: 36-37). Our goal has been to model and teach what might be called a mentoring approach to leadership training; to emulate Jesus’ method: “teach and do,” “do and teach.”
In September we partnered with two large Nepali church networks. They also plan to start BSLs in remote parts of Nepal in the years ahead. We believe the Lord of the Church is going ahead of us as we try to pass the baton to amazing, yet very needy leaders.
At the Global Proclamation Congress in Thailand last year, evangelism ministry RREACH founder Dr Ramesh Richard challenged the 3000 pastors from 120 countries with these statistics:
It’s exciting to be one of the Global Partners of BotanyLife Community Church.
• E ach day, in parts of Asia, Africa and South America, 50,000 new believers are baptized, creating a need for 1,000 more trained pastors to shepherd them well. 18
GLOBAL OUTREACH
INTERESTED TO LEARN MORE? Check us out at www.bsl.org.nz
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ON OUR PRAYER TEAM OR KNOW ABOUT PROJECTS YOU COULD SUPPORT? Email us at rowland@bsl.org.nz
19
Drive Text by Brad Carr.
A
s I look back over the different decades of my life (there’s been a few!), I realise just how critical my young adult years were in terms of the decisions that I made. Graduating university, starting full-time work, marrying Rochelle, becoming a pastor, studying at seminary in the US - all of these things happened in my 20s.
Kim-Marie Sherer heading off to London last year, though, the Neighbourhood didn’t have any leadership and drifted through the last few months of 2016. As 2017 dawned, Rochelle and I both felt prompted to begin investing our lives in the amazing young adults that he has blessed our church with. And so with the support of the group, we have taken over the leadership of the Neighbourhood. Now called “Drive,” this newest community group has started the year with real energy.
For many of us, the decisions we make in our young adult years are crucial in terms of the direction that our lives take. That’s not to say that other eras or seasons of life are not important... but these years are hugely significant. That’s why we have been committed as a church to offering young adult community groups for a number of years.
Drive now meets on Wednesday evenings each week. One evening a fortnight is a study night at our home, as we discuss a key topic together, and then the next Wednesday night is a social event - so far the team has enjoyed a quiz night, bowling, dessert night, and a highly competitive games night.
Mark and Steph van Wijk launched our original young adult small group (fittingly called “Launch”), and a few years later it morphed into two groups - “Launch,” which catered for 18-24 years olds during the years of study (these days ably led by Vernon and Michelle Lomberg); and “The Neighbourhood,” which was for working young adults aged 25 and up. With
If you’re a working young adult around 24 or 25 years and up, we’d love you to join us! We meet Wednesday nights from 7:30pm for either a study or social. Just contact Brad and Rochelle Carr for more info!
20
COMMUNITY GROUPS
re
charge
Text by Carolyn van Gemst.
R
ECHARGE is a small group that was launched last year. Taking the time out to meet with each other is a good chance for us to step away from our normal routines and as a result be recharged; by being encouraged by each other, learning from God’s word and lifting each other up in prayer.
each bring a different view to the group. Hebrews 10:25 says we must continue meeting together, encouraging one another. That’s what we want to do - to connect to each other on a personal level so we can motivate and encourage, as well as connecting with God through studying His Word. As a group we’ve worked through a couple of different resources and had a few social events. Last year we worked through the church journal as we walked through the Panorama series. This year we’ve been watching a DVD series on “The Reason for God” which looks at the doubts and objections non-Christians can have towards Christianity. By the time you read this, we’ll probably have finished the last session and will be choosing something new as a group... so what better time for you to jump in?
Leo and I had previously run a group catering towards younger marriages, but that had fizzled out as little additions started arriving, changing couples to families... Happy to still lead a group, we looked at what groups there were within the church and felt there was a need for another mixed group that catered towards anyone - not just newlyweds, or married with children, or empty nesters - but a group where there really was no demographic to tie it down, where anyone was welcome.
So no matter who you are, if you’re looking to connect in a mixed group and you have some time on Thursday nights, we invite you to pop in and see whether you’d like to be part of our group.
And so “Recharge” was born and we’re quite a diverse group! Couples, singles, part of a couple; parents of teens, young children or no kids at all. With an age range of 20 odd years and all of us being in different walks of life, we 21
BEHIND THE SCENES AT...
& Text by Mel Palmer.
G
reenhouses and Orchards - places where little plants are nurtured and grow to produce something beautiful or yummy! That’s what we at BotanyLife desire for our Greenhouse and our Orchard - the places where the littlest members of our church family hang out on a Sunday. We want our Greenhouse and Orchard to be places where little ones are nurtured, where they grow and produce fruit. We want these little people to be introduced to God, to learn of his love, to accept his grace and to begin to demonstrate the fruit of his Spirit!
who would happily sit still, listen to and understand one of Brad’s sermons! We do things differently out in the Greenhouse and the Orchard. Each month the kids are taken on a different Bible adventure with Emily and an animated star named Shine. They sing a memorable song with Mr. Music, memorize a verse with Guy the Bible Guy, and see how the Bible story applies to an everyday situation with Shine’s animated friends. The adventure is repeated each week so the truths of the month become sticky and sink into these little minds.
No one is too little to hear about God. No one is too little to be in relationship with him! It is important to us that our church family supports and understands this and realise that we don’t just run a babysitting service so that parents can hear God’s word. We teach God’s word and his truth to our kids.
This month (September) their adventure is “Everybody’s Welcome”. God’s Church isn’t just a building where we learn about God. God’s Church is God’s family! Everybody is welcome in God’s family when they trust and follow Jesus. This month’s story, about Peter and the centurion Cornelius, will teach our Greenhouse and Orchard children that God has a special place for them in His Church! We all fit in God’s family.
Of course, there are some differences in the way we teach. As much as we enjoy them, I haven’t yet met a pre-schooler 22
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
If you are a parent with preschool children, you can help your children fall in love with Jesus by continuing the learning at home. The curriculum we are using is fully integrated with “The Bible App for Kids”. If you are happy for your child to have some device time, you can download this app (which looks like the picture above) and reinforce what the kids are experiencing in church. How cool is that?
truth in the Bible! Please also pray for the awesome people who serve with these kids on our BotanyKids team that God would use them to shine Jesus’ love and share His truth. On that note, if you love Jesus and love little people, I’d love to chat to you about joining our team. Being part of the Greenhouse or Orchard teams can be a real blessing to kids but also to you! Seeing Jesus through the eye of a little child is exciting and refreshing. You might find your own faith renewed by the gorgeous simple messages and enthusiasm of being in the Greenhouse or Orchard.
Can I ask that all of us as a church family pray from time to time for these littlest members of our church family? Please pray that they would fall in love with Jesus and never let him go; that they would learn to seek 23
BEHIND THE SCENES AT...
& I
NTRODUCING TRU - A NEW JOURNEY. Those of you who were around last year will remember our 2016 teaching series Panorama. As a church, we walked through the Bible covering 37 key stories. Adults, teens and kids all covered the same story each week! I just loved the way we were all learning together and the way it gave us all a clear picture of how little stories we’re so familiar with all weave together to reveal God’s big story. I believe this type of understanding is key - particularly for kids. It is important that they don’t just hear random Bible stories in isolation but that they are given the opportunity to grasp how the whole narrative of the Bible fits together into this big awesome story of God’s grace and his amazing rescue.
Text by Mel Palmer.
know about God. I am really excited about TRU - it is material that I think could really impact the faith of the kids in the Forest and Jungle and quite possibly the faith of whole families too! At a basic level - using TRU we will walk the kids in the Forest and the Jungle through the BIG GOD STORY every year. This material has been cleverly put together with a 3-year cycle so that each year you get the big story from Creation until Forever, but each year has a slightly different focus and highlights slightly different stories. There are several things I am really excited about with this curriculum. I’m super excited about how we will be presenting the material with the kids on Sunday; especially because of the way it allows creative space for kids to connect with what they are hearing and reflect on what God might be saying to them.
This year I have been on the lookout for new material to use with our primary aged children that continues to help them put the Bible together as one story. And as I shared a few weeks ago in church I am excited because I have found something different and fresh - TRU.
I am also excited about the way the creators of TRU are so passionate about helping us as parents recognize our role as primary spiritual leaders in our children’s lives. The creators of this material have intentionally thought about what it looks like to elevate and equip parents with the materials and the skills they need to do a good job of parenting with eternity in mind.
I dream of seeing kids who don’t just know God’s story but truly grasp why it is the best story ever. Kids who are truly transformed by knowing God - not just kids who 24
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
I think as parents who love and seek to follow God, if we gave ourselves time to think about it, what we all most desire for our kids is for them to have a passionate and real relationship with Jesus. We want them to have a relationship with Him that’s going to get them through the good times and the bad times - when we’re there and when we’re not. We want kids who know that their feelings are real, but they’re not always true. And we want them to have God’s word hidden in their heart, so they have something to fight those feelings with.
I believe that TRU will be one of the ways God answers our prayers. It will give us parents simple resources to share God’s story first. Each week we will be providing information and ideas for you to use at home. However, with TRU, instead of getting information about what we have taught so you can back up what we do at church, this curriculum provides “At Home” sheets which tell you where we are going next and gives you easy ideas to introduce the story with your kids before they come on a Sunday. This means that we at church are backing up what you parents have already introduced instead. I love this idea. I love the way it gives parents the information they need to teach and the way it allows the church to then support families!
When we stop and think about it, we realise we really want to be good at passing on our faith... but we struggle. Some do a better job than others, and sometimes we do a better job than other times, but we all struggle sometimes because we often forget how important our role in this is.
So, if you are a parent of a Forest or Jungle child, we are going to make this available via email and Facebook. Please look out for it if you haven’t already! I really want to encourage you to give some of the ideas a try. I’m excited. And I hope once you have the chance to get involved you will be excited too!
So what to do? How do we do a better job of this? Well… as we have heard often this year... we pray. I am finally truly beginning to grasp just how life changing and empowering prayer can be. You’d think I would have got that already, right? But no. We parents need to pray that God will give us a passion for what the creators of TRU call “spiritual parenting”. Not just parenting so that our kids will be good citizens of this earth, but parenting so our children can see what it looks like to be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven!
To the parents out there I say - may you fully embrace God’s grace and seek to love Him passionately and love others purposefully! May your kids see God in you and desire to do the same! 25
e.
sborn
ie O y Kyl Text b
I
t is a short stage in life, these brief two years when kids transition from child to young adult. They have great stories to tell, and are living exciting pre-teen lives. Our group is called Xchange, and it is made up of children in Years 7 and 8; the two years in between primary school and college. Here at BotanyLife they are the two years between “The Jungle” (the top year of the primary school ministry) and graduating into “Big Church” on a Sunday morning and going to ALTR on a Friday night. It was sad to farewell our Year 8s at the end of last year, but great to welcome all the new Year 7s to the group. On a Sunday morning we get together, have some games, (anything involving food or lollies goes down especially well!) read the Bible together and participate in discussions and activities. We are currently studying the Grapple curriculum, and are loving our new space at Howick Intermediate. The beanbags and sofas make a great casual hang out area, and the door to the great outdoors gives us easy access for outside games (and fresh air to enjoy snacks without having to vacuum up the crumbs!) Our class sizes can vary greatly from as few as 3 to over 20 in a session. In keeping with the church’s focus on prayer this year, we have been trying to bring more prayer into our sessions in various ways. We have found the use of an anonymous prayer box useful, as the kids are finding it a non-threatening way to participate in prayer, rather than being put on the spot to pray out loud in front of the group, which can be daunting.
a trip to Burger King for lunch. We have some things planned for the remainder of the year including a movie night, a car rally, a “missing person” challenge at the mall and our annual Year 8 Graduation/Christmas party. Watch this space for details!
Sarah Rush does a great job of running a couple of socials per term which are a great chance to get together and enjoy some fun activities. It is also a wonderful opportunity for the kids to bring their friends along to join us. This year we have had a beach afternoon (think races to put on a T-shirt which has been pre-frozen in a bag of water, relays involving loads of water balloons and games including water guns and blindfolds) – all topped off with hot chips and fizzy drink on the beach. We have also had an afternoon at the pools and
Our team of teachers and helpers have been getting together once a term to get to know each other, plan, discuss how things are going, and pray for our kids. We would greatly value and appreciate your on-going prayers as we seek to allow God to use us through this role and work through the challenges it brings. And of course, if you feel this is something you would like to be involved in, please let us know. We would love to have more join the team! 26
YOUTH MINISTRY
Text by Harrison Carr.
A
LTR Youth group is our youth ministry for teens who are in high school. We typically meet on Friday nights at Kotahi. We all have a really exciting time as we play some games and talk to each other, then we have someone speak to us a bit before we go into our small groups where we ask questions and pray together. Recently at ALTR we have been studying the topic of prayer as we explore the Bible together. Our youth band is filled with some great guys and girls who love God, and they do a great job of praising Him when they perform at ALTR every three weeks or so. Earlier this year we had some amazing speakers talk to us such as Carlo Leone who came and shared his great testimony with us. We also had Mark van Wijk and Zac Culpan come share about Project Thailand with us, which we all enjoyed hearing about. To kick off last term, we had a BBQ and water fight which was really fun as we all got soaked. We have also had small group socials, rock climbing and serving in our community. At the end of Term 1 we went to BYM Northern Easter Camp which was a really great experience for all of us. At Easter Camp we had heaps of fun and were able to explore God more with each other. At Easter Camp they had sessions which we all went to where we got to worship God and have someone share the Easter story a bit and share God’s word with us. We also entered into a few different sports events at Easter Camp. We did really well at all the sports we entered and had a blast playing together. 27
~ 3 .88 kg 16
0
g
72k 3.
~ ~1 6
October
FR
Mum & Dad Rachel & Eddy Roper
N
ED
D
ry
20
E ERIC (FR
Siblings Mya & Jack
20
1
kg
Mum & Dad Megan & Bryce Molloy
Favourite Activity Eat, sleep, repeat!
2
6
u
Favourite person His sister Keeva, who he follows everywhere, and who gets the most cuddles and laughs from him!
r
17 ~ 3.26
J
16 ES ~
~ 2 Octobe
IA
JAM
NA
N
Y)
N
D
IE
a
O
ly
(J
20
N AT H A N
N
Mum & Dad Michelle & Vernon Lomberg
CA DE
17 ~ .43kg 3
JO N
A
H
Fresh to the BotanyLife “nursery” in the last 6-12 months, here are some of our newest members of our BotanyLife family.
“If you’re happy and you know it” as she loves to clap her hands O SOPHIE J
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
New Sprouts
Favourite Song
n ) B Ja RYC E ~ 10
u
Favourite thing Loves his new ears
Mum & Dad Mark & Amanda Stickland Siblings Milla & Charlie
kg
LIL
~
2.
8
Y 1
4
Se
pte
mber
1 20
6
~
Favourite toy Balloons
Mum & Dad Gerard & Paula Hodgson Brother Flynn
If you’ve had a recent new arrival that you would be happy to share in Portal, I’d love to hear about it: charlotte@botanylife.org.nz.
28
WHO’S THAT?
Anna Roughton Text by Erika Bond.
A
quick Facebook stalk of Anna Roughton reveals the predictable truth that we are pretty much friends already…we just haven’t quite met properly! After finding a match in our schedules, we meet at Botany Columbus for a crash course in the life of Anna. After my initial fumble of realising I have forgotten my pen and paper, we get down to business, giggling a little as both the interviewer and interviewee are new at this gig! A 50/50 blend of Kiwi and Dutch, Anna has two sisters, and a younger brother. An early memory for Anna was when her family relocated to Holland for a year, to live in the village her mother came from. How special! Most of the Roughtons’ early years were spent in the northern parts of Aotearoa. Both teachers, her parents found jobs relatively scarce in Northland and so Anna and her family moved every few years, depending on where teaching jobs were available. Amidst these geographical changes, homeschooling gave Anna and her siblings a sense of stability.
new people with our community. Part of our church for three years now, she loves being part of a place filled with so many genuine people. She loves that it is not a ‘Sunday only’ church and that BotanyLife looks for chances to connect with the community. She appreciates that no matter your age, BotanyLife encourages you to use your gifts.
These moves also meant Anna and her family experienced many different churches in the far north: nearly every denomination from Pentecostal to others rather like Gloriavale! Not surprisingly, this experience had an effect on Anna’s faith. She found it hard to connect with her ever-changing church community. She also found it hard to understand how the ultra-conservative God often presented in a church was the same God that needed to be real in Anna’s everyday life. From this experience, Anna realised the importance of a faith dependent on God, and not on rules and ‘religion’. When I ask about what Anna is passionate about, she answers without hesitation, “Africa”. Anna’s plan is to make her way to Kenya to connect with a small school that she already has an affiliation with. She would love to live there, and becoming a teacher was the best way to do that. Right now she is gaining experience in teaching at Elim Kindergarten so she can best serve overseas. I can’t help but get excited at the determination and obvious love Anna has for this African nation. Watch out world!
I can assure you that Anna and I have now moved past being ‘pretty much friends’ to actual friends (and not just because she accepted my friend request on Facebook). I will be sure to look out for her welcoming, warm and smiling face this Sunday.
Look out for Anna on the welcoming team at church. She loves being on the team of welcomers that aim to connect 29
Pita Heremaia
Text by Tina Funnell.
S
itting down with Pita over a coffee, I’m intrigued to know about this softly spoken, talented man.
It was community that brought Pita to BotanyLife. He was attending Eastview Baptist Church while BotanyLife was meeting next door, at Botany Downs Secondary School. One day he felt he needed to turn left in the driveway instead of right. It was the sign with the word ‘Community’ that spoke to him. It was just going to be one Sunday but he loved the fact that he heard more verses from the Bible than he had heard for a long time. He has tried a few community groups but hasn’t settled on one particular group yet. He loves the wisdom of the older generation, like he used to enjoy the wisdom of the kaumātua (Maori elders) up north.
Pita was brought up in the top of the North Island of New Zealand with his Irish/Maori Dad (Nga Puhi tribe) and his Yugoslavian/Maori Mum (Te Rarawa tribe). He has 8 siblings and 4 half siblings. His name comes from this Maori heritage. It’s pronounced Pit - ah, though he says it’s often easier for non-Maori speakers to say Peter. In 1970, he moved to Auckland with his mum so she could take care of his grandma. Pita’s dad was an A-grade mechanic, carpenter and teacher; all career paths that Pita contemplated. In the end he decided on an electronic engineer career instead, since (as he puts it) he prefers to keep his hands clean! Pita’s Dad was 62 when he came to know Christ, at a crusade he and Pita were attending. For Pita, it was an answer to 25 years of patience and trust in God. During a previous crusade, a Korean man speaking Maori had really touched Pita’s dad. He had wanted to give his heart to God that night but didn’t because he felt he was too sinful. Pita explained that was why we were offered forgiveness through Christ, as we all have sinned. On the next crusade they went to, his Dad was the one and only person that went forward. After becoming a Christian, his dad and mum reconciled after 30 years apart. There was an amazing change in him and it was like they were honeymooners all over again, much to the surprise of Pita’s whanau. His mum too became a Christian, after 12 years of prayer and patience. Pita’s dad passed away in 2008 at the age of 68.
As you may have guessed, Pita loves music, and was previously in a band that sang covers with some good friends from Life Church. He says he turns to music if he feels lonely, as it allows him to sing whatever’s in his heart. He is now involved in our worship band trying to be as invisible as possible - which Mark has now cottoned on to and has put a cross on the floor for him to stand on and directed a spotlight down on him. He has an amazing gift with singing and electric guitar playing and this way, we can all enjoy it.
His mother has been a big influence on Pita. She used to call him Pita the Pied Piper, as people would gather to Pita, follow him and look up to him. Through this, she taught Pita to be a good role model to his friends and family, which enabled him to bring more of his family to know Christ over time.
Pita is now a financial consultant in Papatoetoe. Eventually, he says, he’d like to own his own business. In his spare time, Pita and his son Lee enjoy research and development. Currently, they are working on putting together a drone that they can use for fishing; one that sees where the fish are and drops a hook to the right depth to catch it. He also has several older children (aged 28, 33 and 35) and grandchildren aged 8 and 10.
Pita encouraged his siblings to enjoy spending time with their mum, even with her nuances and funny things she said. They should treasure every moment with her so that when she was gone, they would have no regrets. After his mother became sick, Pita decided to stop working as an electronics engineer so he could take care of her. She passed away in 2011, following a struggle with cervical cancer.
Thanks for spending time with me Pita, it was great to get to know you. 30
WHO’S THAT?
Daniel and Shih-Mei Lee Text by Debbie du Toit.
“AT BOTANYLIFE COMMUNITY CHURCH EVERYONE DOES THEIR PART, ACCORDING TO THEIR GIFTS AND TALENTS, TO SERVE ON OUR CHURCH BODY”.
T
hese are Daniel Lee’s words to describe their impression of the place they have made their home for the past year and a half. I respond by welcoming them into our church family, as I visit the family on a sunny Saturday afternoon at their home in Meadowbank.
started a learning process that has led him to a greater knowledge of and appreciation for the gospel.
Shih Mei and Daniel, both from Singapore, met while they were studying at Oregon University in the USA. The Lees immigrated to New Zealand in April 2004, and have experienced the peace and prosperity of this country. They testify about God’s blessing in this ‘new season’ of their lives, and hold dear to their hearts Jeremiah 29:4-9; part of the letter the prophet sent to the people exiled into Babylon. Daniel points out verse 5, which refers to laying down roots, and recalls how this applied to his family as they settled in and bloomed here. “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” (Jeremiah 29:5)
Shih Mei was born into a Christian family, and accepted the teaching of the gospel that her parents taught her. It was only when she was in her 20s, and going through a difficult time with work colleagues, that she encountered God in a very personal way. During this time, she was able to gain a better understanding of God’s Word. Daniel and Shih Mei were part of a large Methodist church in Singapore, and initially looked for a similar church family when they immigrated to New Zealand. A friend introduced them to BotanyLife, where they have been enjoying the biblical teaching.
They celebrate 28 years of marriage this year, and have two young adult children: Jonathan, aged 25, who recently joined Drive, our young adults’ community group and 22-year-old Nicola - currently working in London in the hospitality industry.
Daniel and Shih Mei have been involved with Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), an in-depth bible study that originated in the USA, for a number of years. Shih Mei started attending classes in Singapore, and continued her involvement when her family moved to Auckland. She describes it as an amazing journey of enrichment, and is grateful for the opportunity for spiritual growth. The children also attended the classes in the past. She has been serving as a BSF leader for the past couple of years, and this privilege has blessed me in turn.
Daniel became a Christian at age 13, through his involvement in the Boys’ Brigade at a local Brethren church. It was at this event when he first heard about the Christian story. He later re-dedicated his life to Christ when he was 18 years old at a Campus Crusade leadership camp. This event helped Daniel experience a deeper understanding of Christian doctrine, and 31
grab a comfy seat, turn the volume up, pull the family together, grab some popcorn, it’s...
Book | BRIDGE TO HAVEN
Review Time However, the words of hymns that she learned to play as a child keep echoing in her ears...
Reviewed by Charlotte Gray
Age 17+ | Written by Francine Rivers
Raven-haired and mysterious, Lena Scott is a rising star in 1950s Hollywood. But behind her success is a broken heart that won’t be mended by a change of city or a change of name.
I came to this novel having read several of Francine Rivers’ other novels (Redeeming Love, and the Voice in the Wind series set in brilliantly captured Ancient Rome) and this was just as captivating a read. Rivers is very good at creating characters who you can’t resist liking and sympathising with. Abra’s challenges with anger, hurt and regret were very relatable and on several occasions I barely resisted calling out advice or encouragement! You desperately want her (and her loved ones) to find their happy endings. There were also several lighter moments. I loved Abra’s piano teacher Miss Mitzi, who insists on training Abra to play nearly the whole hymnal, and her utter lack of filter.
Lena’s real name is Abra, and she has struggled with feelings of rejection ever since she was found under a bridge as a baby. Her father Pastor Ezekiel, her family... no-one seems to truly love her. So at 17 she runs away, with a boy everyone has warned her against. Every choice she hopes might be a solution, from new relationships to an acting career, instead adds to her feeling of hopelessness. 32
Book | PRAYER WORKS
“You’re welcome to use my piano as often as you like. I might howl when you hit a wrong note, but I won’t make you quit.”
As shown in the New Testament, God thinks kids are pretty cool and he likes to hear from them. But us kids don’t always know how to pray or what to say. That’s where this book comes in handy! Prayer Works is a book about prayer training and strategy for kids.
Reviewed by Mack Palmer
Age 8-12+ | Written by Stephen & Alex Kendrick with Amy Palmer
As a history geek, I also enjoyed the glimpse behind the glamour of the Golden Age of Hollywood. If you enjoy classic films such as Casablanca, you may find yourself recognising several names as Abra brushes shoulders with 1950s’ most famous and fashionable faces.
In the summer holidays we found this book at Manna Christian Bookstores and we decided to buy it because Mum knew we were going to talk about prayer at church this year. It is awesome! It answers questions that many people might have about prayer, including:
This is a novel with romance, redemption and a powerful reminder of God’s unconditional love. If that combination appeals, this novel could be for you!
• “What is prayer?” • “Why should I pray?” • “Is there a wrong way to pray?”
A brief cautionary note that this novel does contain some stronger content and themes, due to the nature of Abra’s difficulties.
• “Will God answer my prayers?” The answers are presented in easy to read paragraphs with fun and colourful illustrations. At the back it gives you a heap of activities to do that are based around prayer. I totally recommend this book for anyone of any age! It is brilliant for kids, but adults, or even your wise, spiritual granny, would learn a lot from this book. I know both me and my mum have!
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. 33
REVIEWS
For example, when Abra complains about not being able to practise piano at home, Miss Mitzi tells her,
MARRIAGE / PARENTING
Blame
Text by Nikki Bray.
I
just love Brené Brown. If you haven’t come across any of her material I want to encourage you to check her out. She has given one of the most popular TED talks of all time: ‘The power of vulnerability’. I’m sure you’ll identify with what she shares. Recently, I came across her animated video on Blame - it’s well worth a look and something we can probably all relate to. The problem of blaming has been around since the beginning of creation. In the Garden of Eden when Adam initially sinned by eating from the tree of life, he stood up like a real man and blamed his woman. “It was Eve. She gave me the fruit.” Adam then goes on to even blame God. “It was the woman you gave me who brought me some.” Eve didn’t fare much better. She in turn blamed the snake - and we’ve all been doing it ever since. Rick Warren reminds us that embedded in our fallen nature is the instinct to not only dodge the blame but shift it to someone or something else. When we were raising children, common statements I made were; “Who did this?”, “I put my book here, who’s moved it?”, “The toaster is broken, who used it last?”. As Brené says, it’s easier to blame someone than have to look to yourself and take responsibility. Or to realise and acknowledge that ‘stuff just happens’. Sometimes, toasters just stop working. It isn’t anyone’s fault. That deep seated need to be right is often at the core of so many problems and disputes. I found myself behaving in this fashion just the other day. Our daughter had called me out on something that had happened and I’m ashamed to admit that I immediately became defensive and blamed her. I felt in this instance that she was wrong
and I was right. To cut a long story short, in her eyes I had broken her confidence. I had said something I shouldn’t and she was deeply upset with me. I felt that she was being unreasonable and a tad irrational - but she may have been 5% right. I had kind of broken her confidence.
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.
But because I am the more mature Christian - and because I teach this stuff at our events, I modeled exemplary behaviour to our daughter - and I blamed her instead! I said something like, “Honey, this is not my fault, and it’s totally unfair of you to be upset with me. You yourself need to accept that it’s your own fault that this has blown up. You have no right to be angry with me.” Yep guys, this is how NOT to do it. And then to top it off, in typical Eve fashion I said, “Actually, Dad is the one who’s at fault here. He’s made the situation much worse”. A great example, right? You see, rather than take responsibility for my own poor behavior, I justified my actions to myself, blamed her and shifted some blame to Andy too. But of course, blaming is never a good thing. In fact, all it does is sabotage relationships. This is where I am so thankful for the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and also why it is so important to know scripture. You see, it wasn’t long before I sensed God nudging me, saying, “Nikki, why do you look at the speck of sawdust in Olivia’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your 34
daughter, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? Scripture can be so convicting, can’t it? I started to feel terrible. When I focused on my poor behavior, I could clearly see Olivia’s own hurt and disappointment. I then needed to deal with my own pride and sincerely apologize, and when I did that, our relationship was totally restored. Taking responsibility for our behaviour and then asking for forgiveness is so humbling. On paper it sounds so easy, but it’s so incredibly hard. I have a friend who has a lovely way of handling these life situations. He isn’t a blame shifter. He’ll be the first to put his hand up with a smile and say, “It was me, I did it!” Or his kiddy will spill some milk and with a laugh he’ll just say, “Come on, let’s clean it up together.” He doesn’t seem to get emotionally drawn into situations. He sees things at face value, and solves the issue. It’s so disarming. So my own personal lesson here - and hopefully I can encourage you to do the same - is to put my hand up and take responsibility for my own shortcomings rather than passing them off to someone or something else.
WHAT’S ON GUIDE
What’s on at Botany... Friday 29th September End of Term 3
Saturday 21st October Labour Weekend starts
Wednesday 25th October
Sunday 8th October Willow Park Kidz Camp begins
Sunday 22nd October “Prayer on the Journey” sermon series ends
Sunday 29th October
Monday 16th October Start of Term 4
Sunday 22nd October Parenting Teenagers Course begins
Sunday 29th October
mainlymusic starts for Term 4
New “Reformation” sermon series begins
Profile Dinner
Sunday 5th November
Sunday 12th November
Sunday 12th November
New roster begins (Nov – Feb)
Nightlife service at Kotahi
Christmas Koha launch
35
THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF CHRISTMAS ON ICE 2016