PORTAL
Issue 04 | June - September 2012
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY {Christianity was never meant to be lived out alone} Christian Community / Community Project Feedback - Past Projects / Meet Mel Thorburn Leadership Roundtable / Angry Words Family Service / Reflections on Riverina
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Christian Community It’s all about the community! Leadership Spotlight Meet Mel Thorburn - BoranyLife Office Administration Community Project Feedback - Past Projects Past community projects feel goods Leadership Roundtable Living Stones and Rowland Forman Angry Words Family Service Angry Birds is great - Angry Words are not Our Inner Community Reflections on Riverina and 1945 BC helping out the community
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Pastor’s Column A word from the Pastor Children’s Ministry BotanyKids - Small Groups Musings Living Well Daily by Rowland Forman Kid’s Portal Pull out pages full of activities to amuse the kids for a while Youth Ministry Xchange: Fostering relationships through faith Carey Baptist College An insight from current student Andrew Mackereth Creative Space A place for you to be creative and show everyone Who’s That Get to know some of our fellow members in the church... Meet Pete and Melissa Guyan and Thomas Woodfield Reviews - Music // Movies // Books Grab a comfy seat, turn the volume up and grab some popcorn, Marriage & Parenting Advice from Andy and Nikki Bray of Family Life What’s On at BotanyLife? Get your pens out and mark these dates on your calendar
THE PORTAL TEAM {EDITOR} Andrew Mackereth {WRITERS} Brad Carr / Charlotte Woodfield / Melissa Guyan / Mel Palmer / Andrew Mackereth / Mel Thorburn Mark van Wijk / Al Ronberg / Max Carr / Debbie du Toit / Thomas Woodfield {ART} Art Director/Designer - Amanda Crane / Photographer - Al Ronberg {REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS} Rowland Forman / Andy and Nikki Bray / Louise Hopman {GUEST CONTRIBUTORS} Kate Hosking / Sue Lynn Leong / Harrison Carr
welcome to the...
Pastor’s Column
Brad Carr
Welcome to the fourth issue of Portal. This issue is focused on community groups, and the key role they play in the life of our church. We currently have eleven groups running at BotanyLife, and they do a great job of giving us smaller places to relate and grow together as our church gets larger. So rather than just using this column to tell you what’s coming up in this edition of Portal (see the contents for that), I want to tell you why I believe connecting in a community group is so important. Firstly, from a theological point of view, the very nature of God pushes us towards community. God is highly relational, existing for eternity in a tri-unity of three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He models community in his own essence, and invites us to mimic him and live life relationally. Secondly, from a biblical stand-point, it is clear that in the Old Testament Israel was organised into smaller groups within the larger tribes for coordination, leadership and care (Ex 18:24-25). And certainly when you come to the early church, you find the followers of Jesus also organising themselves that way. The early church met in both a large group in the temple for worship and teaching, and from house to house in smaller groups for fellowship, eating and prayer (Acts 2:42-46). That provides a great model for us of the importance of both large and small gatherings. Thirdly, from the practical side, community groups are important for us obeying the “one another” commands in the New Testament (“love one another”, “encourage one another”, etc). Those commands are difficult to practice in the context of larger church services, whereas community groups are tailor-made for living out the commands to do life with one another. Fourth, pastorally, community groups are essential as the church grows and the elders and pastors are not able to personally shepherd everyone anymore. This means community groups become the primary place of pastoral care, allowing our church leaders to come alongside and support groups when extra help or care is needed. I love hearing stories around our church of when people have been in difficult times and their community groups have stepped up and done an outstanding job of caring, supporting, and praying for one of their own. Finally, personally, I find being connected in a community group a huge blessing in my own life. I love being part of the Drew’s Crew men’s community group, and just being one of the members of the group. I enjoy the chance to connect with a group of men in the church; to talk through sermons and studies and how they relate to life; to talk and laugh and pray about the challenges we’re facing; and to feel like I’m connected a little more deeply with a few brothers at BotanyLife. If you’re not currently connected to one of our community groups, I hope this issue of Portal encourages you to take that step and try one or two out. If you are already in a group, I hope these articles encourage you to renew your commitment and level of engagement in your group. Either way, I hope you enjoy this latest edition of Portal.
Brad LEAD PASTOR
BOTANYLIFE COMMUNITY CHURCH {STAFF} Lead Pastor/Elder - Brad (and Rochelle) Carr / Community Pastor - Mark (and Steph) van Wijk / Children’s Pastor - Mel (and Drew) Palmer Church Administrator - Mel (and Julian) Thorburn / Sunday Service Coordinator - Mandy Francis {ELDERS} Todd (and Sheree) Hughes, Harataki (and Shona) Manihera, Steve (and Robyn) Young 3
FEATURE ARTICLE rowing towards Christ likeness is a life-long process, as we continue to mature in our walk with God. Therefore, as a church, we value life-long learning, as we study and obey God’s Word together. We also believe that God intends for much of that growth and learning to take place in the context of Community Groups, where we can build strong, authentic relationships with each other. With this in mind, let’s explore what it means to be a Christian community.
Christianity was never meant to be lived out alone. Instead, God has placed us together in His family, the Church, where we can accomplish much more for Him together than we ever could apart.
WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD A Christian community is made up of those people who have responded to the message of the gospel. Those who have been saved (according to Ephesians 2) ‘by grace, through faith, in Christ’. In the book of Exodus, God declares the Israelites to be His ‘treasured possession’, and His ‘own people’ (19:4-5, 6:6-7). In 1 Peter 2:9-10, Peter takes these phrases and applies them to the church – we too are ‘a people belonging to God’.
Text by Mark van Wijk. 4
WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST A Christian community consists of those who deliberately share their lives together. The New Testament often refers to Christians as being God’s ‘family’ or ‘household’ (Galatians 6:10, Ephesians 2:19, Romans 12:10). Families share everything – they eat, live and work together. The other common metaphor the Bible uses is that of a body. Christians are not a collection of individuals, but rather a single functioning organism - each of us with different parts to play, but all strongly connected. WE HAVE THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT A Christian community models an alternate way to live, it is distinctive in how it approaches life. Like a ‘city on a hill’ (Matthew 5:14), the visible behaviour of the community shines out to all around them, and demonstrates the glory of God. When Christ returns, he will ‘restore all things’, but until then the Spirit of God is given to us as a ‘deposit, guaranteeing’ that future restoration (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Spirit empowers us to model (in our imperfect way) what a restored world looks like. We are to model the transformation that the gospel makes to every aspect of our lives. If this is a model of what a healthy Christian community looks like, then how do we become this kind of community? In the body of Christ ‘each member belongs to all the others’ (Romans 12:5), but this is much deeper than simply being a part of the same group or belonging to the local golf, fishing or sports club. As different parts of the same body, we are inescapably dependant on one another. In the many ‘one another’ statements of the New Testament letters, the implications for this are spelled out for us.
In his book Gospel in life, Pastor Tim Keller (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Manhattan) describes a series of ‘community-building practices’ that build healthy Christian community, that I think are intensely practical: Affirm one another’s strengths, abilities and gifts. (Romans 12:10, James 5:9, Romans 12:3-8) We see this expressed most clearly in Romans 12:10: ‘Honour one another above yourselves’. We should be much quicker to praise, affirm, honour and celebrate the success of others, than to receive these same things. There is a tendency in all of us (and I see this clearly in my own life), to seek praise and affirmation, but we are called to let this go, and instead to deliberately and specifically encourage the other members of the body. If you find it hard to do this genuinely, it might be helpful to consider another person in light of these questions: • Where are they growing and making progress? Perhaps in their ability to handle difficulties or criticism? Or maybe they are growing in peace, joy or self-control? Affirm and speak to them about this. • W hat talents and gifts do they have? Do you see them using their gifts in ways that might benefit others? Do you see something in their lives that could be cultivated? Tell them what you see, encourage them to grow. • A re they making sacrifices in order to make good decisions, even though others may not be aware of it? Affirm their obedience.
Fruit, gifts and sacrifices should be confirmed and affirmed in Christian community. Affirm one another’s equal importance in Christ (Romans 15:7, 1 Cor 12:25, 1 Peter 5:5, James 2:1) As a Christian community we must refuse to be impressed by the world’s status-ladders or pecking orders, which teach that some classes, races, jobs or cultures have more ‘power’ than others. Over and over, God’s Word implores us to reject this kind of thinking, and to ban it from the church. On the contrary, we are specifically encouraged to build relationships with Christians across these traditional barriers. We are also to value all gifts equally, rather than to hold some in higher regard as the world might (e.g. Speaking or leadership ability). James 2:1-14 is another classic text that expressly forbids favouritism of rich people over poor. Affirming one another through visible affection (Romans 16:16, James 1:19, Eph 4:32, 1 Thess 3:12) The New Testament directs us a number of times to ‘greet one another with a holy kiss’, or ‘with a kiss of love’. We normally skip past these instructions pretty quickly, and it’s probably fair to say that some cultural translation is needed here, but we can’t avoid the command to communicate love and affection in an appropriate and visible way. We must not be cold, abrupt, indifferent or harsh with one another, but more than that, we must be willing to actually talk about our love for each other. James 1:19 reminds us that one of the easiest ways to practice this is to simply listen attentively to each other, rather than be quick to rush in and take over a conversation. I love what Dietrich Bonhoeffer says about this in Life Together: ‘THE FIRST SERVICE THAT ONE OWES TO OTHERS IN THE FELLOWSHIP CONSISTS IN LISTENING TO THEM. JUST AS LOVE TO GOD BEGINS WITH LISTENING TO HIS WORD, SO THE BEGINNING OF LOVE FOR OTHERS IS LEARNING TO LISTEN TO THEM… LISTENING CAN BE A GREATER SERVICE THAN SPEAKING… THERE IS A KIND OF LISTENING… AN IMPATIENT, INATTENTIVE LISTENING THAT IS ONLY WAITING FOR A CHANCE TO SPEAK AND THUS GET RID OF THE OTHER PERSON.’ Share one another’s space, stuff and time (Romans 12:10, 1 Peter 4:9, Galatians 6:10) In a healthy Christian community, there is a willingness to share our physical, material worlds, the way that families do. Specifically this could mean: • Sharing our homes, as we eat, learn, play and pray together. • S haring our stuff, our resources, perhaps by meeting practical needs. • S haring time - being available to one another, and being committed to meeting together regularly. As a side note, anywhere you read ‘do good to one another’ (e.g. Galatians 6:10), the writer is talking about concrete material help - it means providing money, shelter or other practical help. 6
FEATURE ARTICLE
Share one another’s needs and problems (Gal 6:2, 1 Thess 5:11, Hebrews 3:13)
it’s always your move. It doesn’t matter how the relationship was damaged, or who ‘started it’, God calls you to reach out in love, that the relationship might be repaired, and to never give up until it is restored. Ephesians 4:2 tells us to ‘bear with one another’ - don’t sweat the small stuff, and Galatians 5:26 talks about avoiding both ‘provoking’ (despising or looking down on a person), and ‘envying’ (resenting or feeling inferior to a person).
This may mean sharing resources and possessions, or perhaps providing love and support in times of grief or weakness. We must be willing to engage with people who are hurting and provide whatever support they need. Galatians 6:2 talks about carrying each other’s burdens. To help someone who has a heavy load, you’ve got to get in close to them, in order to take some of the weight on yourself. Notice it doesn’t just say other’s burdens, but each other’s - a healthy Christian community is a place where we don’t let others carry their loads alone, but it’s also a place where we don’t try to carry our own loads alone. We help others and we let them help us.
Serve one another’s interests rather than our own (Hebrews 10:24, Romans 15:1-2, Gal 5:13) This is the classic servant-heart idea, and it’s hard. Without seeking recognition for ourselves, we’re called to deliberately engage with each other’s interests and needs. We must also avoid exploiting our own Christian community, by making ourselves so indispensable that we become dependent on others’ dependence on us. We must also avoid simply taking (emotionally, materially and spiritually) from our community, and never giving anything back. The challenge is to neither be so proud as to think that we don’t need community, nor so needy that we continually exploit others in our community.
Share one another’s beliefs, thinking and spirituality (Col 3:16, Eph 5:19, Romans 12:16, 1 Cor 1:10) In a healthy Christian community we study and teach the Bible to each other, we pray together, and we worship God together (in a variety of ways). We are called to not only study the Bible as individuals, but we are to read, study and wrestle with it together which leads to deeper unity, and greater consensus around how to live out our faith in our own time and place.
We’d love for everyone at BotanyLife to be connected to a community group, where we believe these ‘one another’ principles can be best lived out. Community groups are where we can build authentic relationships, in community with other church members. To help foster healthy Christian community, each of our community groups incorporate their own unique mix of the same three focus points as the wider church - Upward (through worship, prayer, and study), Inward (through fellowship, sharing, and social events), and Outward (through organising or participating in outreach events and programmes).
Serve one another through accountability (James 5:16, Romans 15:14, Eph 4:25) Earlier we looked at the call to be willing to share our needs with each other, but we must also allow ourselves to be accountable to others in the way that we live, even in the more personal aspects of our lives. We must be willing to admit our own areas of weakness, and develop close relationships with Christian friends who we allow to speak into those areas of difficulty, in which self-deception is easy. Often this includes areas such as our work/life balance, sexuality, or use of money.
If you haven’t already, we’d love to help you connect into a Community Group. Please take a look at the groups listed in the Community Groups brochure (available at the Info Desk or at www. botanylife.org.nz), and then feel free to visit any (or all) of them to see where you feel most at home. If you have any questions, or you’d like to know more about any of the groups, I’d love to hear from you!
Serve one another through forgiveness and reconciliation (Eph 4:2, Col 3:13, Gal 5:26, James 4:11, Matthew 5:23-24, 18:15) Christians in community don’t give up on one another. We must always seek to forgive (or repent), and to repair relationships. And
[Portions of this article are adapted from Gospel in Life, by Tim Keller] 7
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY Being in a small group is great! On Sundays you get to see your frie nds and learn things together. Not to mentio n there are also socials. Socials are a tim e to get together with your friends and have fun! Part of being in a small group is knowing you are never alone. There is always a leader that you can ask question s, and other people that can help you under stand. You have to do your part too. If someone asks you for help, you can’t jus t say no. It’s all about teamwork! That’s wh y small groups are a lot of fun.
Text by Mel Palmer.
is intended to fill our kids with a sense of belonging that’s sometimes absent in kids’ lives today. Small groups give kids a safe and By Sue Lynn Leong (Me mber of the Jungle Girls Small Group) comfortable group of people with whom they can process the Bible story, share personal joys and struggles, and form friendships.
hances are, if you look back over your childhood, you can probably remember one adult who really took an interest in you and made you feel special. Maybe it was your Sunday School leader, a sports coach, or a school teacher. Whoever it was, I bet you remember them because they took the time to talk to you and spend time with you, to get to know you. I am sure that those people were the ones who spoke into your life with the most impact. Developing relationships with kids earns you the right to speak into their lives. One of the most effective ways to develop relationships with kids in the church is through small groups in the Children’s Ministry. We introduced small groups into our Primary Aged ministry a few years ago. While our groups aren’t so ‘small’ any more they still give us a better chance at creating community and making connections than we can in the large group setting where we teach the Bible lesson. The energy created by a large group environment brings excitement to the kids’ teaching time and worship. Our small group time creates a sense of community for kids whose spiritual growth depends on caring people who build relationships with them.
CONNECTION: Even with the most compelling and creative lessons, truth can take a detour between kids’ ears and kids’ hearts. Kids aren’t always sure what they’re supposed to do with what they’ve heard so actual learning or life-change doesn’t occur. Being in relationship with a caring leader and friends helps children connect what they’ve learned to their lives in a real and relevant way. In small group, leaders walk kids through the “So what?”, and, “What now?” questions. They help kids see how God’s Word applies to their lives today.
COMMUNITY: The small group environment gives kids a safe place to share what they’ve learned, to grow in their relationship with God and others, and to give and receive love. The small group experience
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE OPPOSITE PAGE WE HAVE SOME BIG SMALL GROUPS! Research tells us that the ideal group size for community and connection is actually 6-8 (in fact some of the material I’ve read says no more than five kids to every leader is ideal). To achieve this ideal we would need to split most our groups in half! I’d LOVE to be able to do that. The community and connections made for the kids would be so worth it! Of course splitting our groups in half would mean that we need twice the number of leaders. If you’d like to chat about the possibility of becoming a small group leader, I’d love to hear from you! Being a leader isn’t only of benefit to the kids. You will be amazed at how God will work through you to foster a loving and rewarding relationship with the children you work with. Small groups have already changed the lives of many children around the world because of the feeling of self-worth that they received in a small group. Are you ready to be used by God to change some lives? 8
FOREST 2 - Our Year Two small group is the biggest with 15 children -most of whom are pretty regular attendees of the Forest. This group is led by Drew Palmer, Richard Dykes, Joy Britten and Shanae Hofmans.
FOREST 3 - The Year 3 group is led by Cathy Downey-Parish, Curtis Mountfort and Larissa Sproul.
FOREST 4 - The leaders of our Year 4 group are Lara Hasslebach, Cameron Roots and Matt Williams.
JUNGLE GIRLS - Led by Lisa Hohneck, Isabel Hand and Sam Caceres.
JUNGLE BOYS - Led by Andrew Creahan, Grant Archibald and Steve Collier.
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
FOREST 1 - Forest 1 welcomes our Year One children - the youngest members of the Forest. They have recently welcomed three new ones who moved up from the Orchard at the beginning of this term. The Small Group leaders for this group are Casey Roux, Rebecca Hand and Jordan Millen.
MUSINGS WITH ROWLAND
Living Well Daily GAINING PERSPECTIVE FROM PSALM 90 Do you measure your life by birthdays, or by the day? Are you defined by how many years you have lived, or by how well you live each day? What matters is not how long you have lived, but how well you have lived. To help me focus on what really matters, I periodically engage in a two-part stock-take. The first part helps me to reflect on how short life is, the second, how I will live the days left to me. I calculate how long I would have to live if my genetic predisposition is on my mother’s side, or my dad’s. Then, to gain perspective on how to live, I meditate on Psalm 90. NUMBERING MY DAYS The calculation part of my stock-take is based on an overly literal interpretation of Psalm 90:12. Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom Numbering my days on my mum’s side is easy. I’ve outlived her. She died when she was a mere 58 years. So, on her side of the family, I’m doing okay. Nine years ago my dad died at the ripe age of 83. On that calculation, I have around 5241 days, or 168 months to live! Not long. Sobering as that is, it’s not what the Psalmist (most likely Moses) had in mind when he said - teach us to number our days. It’s more likely, in the context, he meant that we need to treasure every day as a gift from God and learn to live each day well. LIVING EACH DAY WELL That’s where the second part of my periodic routine kicks in. I read all of Psalm 90. May I suggest that you do that right now? The psalm helps me to zoom in on one of life’s central questions: “How can I learn to live each day well?” 1. Keep Circling Back to God. First, says the author (in verse one through six) we can
learn to live each day well, by realizing that God is eternal and life is short. God is our permanent address - he is our dwelling place. Everything around us is temporary, as daily news and obituary notices constantly remind us. Practically, that means I need to be like a homing pigeon - circling back to God at regular intervals throughout the day. The way that works in my life is to set aside a time of reflection at the beginning of every day, when I do two very simple things - read a section of the Bible worshipfully, and pray through the day ahead. I take out my calendar and invite God to invade my day. As often as I can, I pause after main appointments in my day, to thank God for his help and ask for more. Then at the end of the day I pray through the day backward, thanking God for his help with the last major activity of the day, then the penultimate one and so on. 2. Keep Short Accounts with God. In verse seven through eleven, it’s as if the psalmist is saying you can live each of your days well by realizing that God is holy and life is stained by sin. He is awestruck by the thought of God’s holiness, in verse 7 he says, we are consumed by your anger. He recognizes that God is aware of every one of his sins, and that there is a connection between his sins and the shortness of his life. Recently a close friend said, “Maybe my high blood pressure and high blood sugar level is because of the cumulative effect of stress in this last year?” I know the person well, and I agreed with their assessment. This psalm is saying something even more important - the need to be aware of the cumulative effect of unconfessed sin. The way my godly grandmother used to express that truth is that I must “keep short accounts with God.” She meant that I needed to allow as little time as possible between a sin and a time of confession. In Ephesians 4:26, Paul says, Don’t let the sun go down while you are
still angry. Applying that principle to the seven deadly sins, we might say, “Don’t let any of your days end while you are still lustful, prideful, slothful, greedy, envious, angry or gluttonous.” To live each day well, I need to allow no clouds to come between me and God. The hinge of Psalm 90 is verse 12: Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. The Message paraphrase captures the essence of these words: “Oh teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well.” Are you living your days wisely and well? 3. Keep Asking God to Satisfy You with His Love. In verses thirteen through seventeen, the Psalmist reminds us that if we want to live well, we need to realize that God’s love will never let us go, and life is transformed by prayer. John Piper captures the essence of this section of the psalm when he says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” Are you currently satisfied with God? If the tidal waves of life have upturned your frail boat lately, you are probably saying, “Not really.” Then join me in making verse fourteen our daily prayer: Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love. When that prayer is answered, we will experience what we were made for - to glorify God by enjoying him day by day by day. It’s intriguing from time to time to speculate on how much longer we have to live. It’s infinitely more important to live a Godward life daily. Here’s how that works according to this timeless psalm: • Every single day, keep circling back to God, and reflecting on his eternity and your frailty. • Every single day, focus on God’s holiness, and keep short accounts with him. • Every single day, ask God to satisfy you with his love, and stand by while he floods you with his joy!
Rowland Forman serves as the National Director of Living Stones Leadership Ministries, which helps local churches in New Zealand to develop servant-hearted leaders. He has been in full-time Christian ministry almost 40 years, serving as a Bible College Principal, Teaching Pastor, Church-Planter, Curriculum Writer, Author and Mentor. Rowland and Elaine are foundation members of BotanyLife, being part of the initial core group that started the church, and they both lead separate men’s and women’s community groups. They have three adult children, seven wonderful grandchildren, and a fantastic son-in-law. 10
LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT
meet...
Mel
Thorburn BotanyLife Staff Member
Text by Melissa Guyan
T
he lovely Mel Thorburn works in the church office doing numerous jobs that keep BotanyLife ticking over. Her gorgeous smile and cheerful manner make her a well-loved member of this church. She is married to Julian (Julz) and has three beautiful children Georgia (8), Baxter (6) and Reagan (5). It was a delight to sit down and chat with her the other day. I really love this lady. She is such an awesome person and having worked in an office before, I have a high respect for everything she gets through in a day. How do you fill up your hours at the office? Believe me, it’s not hard. I wish I had time to do all the work I had to do. My main jobs are the weekly bulletin, the roster that’s huge, banking, paying bills, printing CDs and other items for the services, emailing... things like that. I also source things for services, particularly the special services like Mother’s and Father’s Day. Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to squish a full time job into a half time job. The hours are great, because they fit in with kindy hours, but 2pm comes around way too quickly. What’s your favourite aspect of the job? I love working with the team. Everyone is so enthusiastic and it’s really exciting to be
part of a team that is so passionate about what we’re doing. They aim for the best and it’s really inspiring. What did you do before becoming a mother and then working at the church? I was a publication manager for a medical publishing company. That involved liaising with authors and editing articles, laying them out. I like to do things really well and this suited my skill set. It was cool having a role outside of motherhood, but I never really hungered for it. Being a mum is awesome and a full time job of its own. I found life just as busy before this job with all the things I used to volunteer for and get involved with. I’ve had to learn to pull back and let a few things go now that I’m working at the church. I get a real sense of team spirit with the BotanyLife leadership - how is this fostered? Brad is hugely responsible. We have a staff meeting every Tuesday - debriefing the service and planning for next week. Brad is amazing at vision casting. He’s a fantastic boss - he will always take the time to listen. The communication within our team is really open and honest, yet we can be really gracious with one another. I guess that’s the privilege of working in a Christian environment. We all have a similar goal too, so that’s really helpful. We have a heart to help each other out. 11
How do you find balancing family life with work life? I have an incredibly supportive husband who is really hands-on with the kids. Brad agrees that I’m a wife and mother first, so that is awesome. There are times when the job requires more... like one off services Mother’s Day or Leadership Cafes. Julz is my right hand man and always helping me with whatever I need. What’s the best thing about parenthood? Special cuddles from kids. I love those quiet one-on-one times with the kids. Knowing that you are their comfort and they trust and love you. It’s such a blessing. As always - I like to end with a few “getting to know you” questions... What’s your favourite dessert? Crème Brulee (Julz answered that one) If you ever get free time, what do you like to do with it? I love seeing and being with people, so probably grabbing a coffee with a friend or a date night with Julz would be right at the top of my list. What’s your favourite movie? The Labyrinth - I just re-watched it recently and remembered how I much I love it!
Community Project Feedback OUTREACH
PAST PROJECTS of BotanyLife for the generous members the all d an U ry lucky to YO TO THANK ool. We were so ve I JUST WANTED mpleted at our sch co y the over to our ke er ov ma l ke tia and ma project and substan ity extraordinary work un mm co ge nderful feedback end of such a hu has been lots of wo re be on the receiving the ow kn I d an looks fabulous, school. Everything unity. d the school comm an ren from the child
JUST WANTED TO send my thanks to BotanyLife Church for all the great improvements to Elm Park School grounds. Such an amazing undertaking in one weekend, but I know it wasn’t just a miracle as my husband and I spent nine hours helping in the weekend, which was probably less than half of the time many of the church members spent and we could barely move on Saturday afternoon!! We actually get to benefit from all the work though, as my daughter attends the school and my son starts in July.
I WAS ASTOUNDED by the thought and planning to organise all the areas that played a part. We were greeted by a friendly and cheerful woman on the gate who seemed to know everything that was going on, so we knew the weekend would be productive. When we submitted our names I was wary not to spend too much time there, as the kids might get bored in the child care. However, when I went to pick them up they didn’t want to leave! Thanks to Mel & Co., they had done so many fun activities including mosaics, clay moulding, kite flying, watching movies etc. it wasn’t surprising they asking to return on the Sunday! The food was scrumptious with a huge variety of delicious baking and yummy filled rolls and fruit, which was a welcome reward for the workers. It was great that a celebration with music, bouncy castle, sausage sizzle and ice cream could be included.
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SO MANY PEOPLE WERE INVOLVED, and so many businesses contributed with extremely generous donations, that it’s hard to know where to begin when it comes to passing on the gratitude of our school. But first and foremost has to be BotanyLife Community Church. The majority of people helping over the weekend are church members who have no connection with our school, but gave up their time and expertise to give something to our community. Truly amazing, truly “Living life with passion and purpose”.
MY HUSBAND AND I helped out on the Sunday and it was a great project to be part of. The atmosphere was something very special and it was great to meet such a lovely group of friendly positive people who were keen to make a difference. Thank you to you all for your, time, effort and energy.
I KEEP THINKING ALSO ABOUT THE HUGE NUMBER of extras you did around the school - the paving, the front garden, the garden clean outs, the painting, the scooter storage fencing, the container shelving and so on.
THIS PROJECT CERTAINLY WAS A BLESSING to all of us at Point View and we will treasure it and enjoy the beauty, peace and many learning opportunities it will offer. Our classroom looks down on the Hive and it is a feast for the eyes! We truly feel so very fortunate to have been afforded this “gift” of Love you gave to us!!
ON BEHALF OF MY CLASS and myself I wish to add our sincere thanks to each of you for the AMAZING work you all put in at Point View School!! The total transformation is breath-taking - we can hardly believe that this was achieved in such a short space of time. There had been an incredible amount of planning before the weekend and everything was just so organised and well co-ordinated! Wow, what a tribute to your leadership, your team spirit and heart for the community.
WHAT A BLESSING for our school in terms of the results you achieved and in terms of the tremendous sense of community that you brought into our grounds and our school community. Your work will enhance children’s learning about our environment for years to come and your spirit of service will continue to prompt thought about your church community and your faith.
HOW CAN WE EVER THANK YOU for what you did over the weekend? I wish you could have been at school today as the families who had not been there over the weekend arrived to see the results of all the hard work. There was a huge sense of excitement and lots of anticipation about future use of the Bee Hive.
bless nue to ti n o c will God t that s u tr s l and bulou schoo out fa r our h it fo w e on do ave d nities you h ommu ll c a r r u ld o OD fo t wou faith. ISE G . Wha ity of I PRA N n O u I m ISAT com GAN ks. your IC OR many than T S A T o N S A ? F ! is WOW tions like th a is n a g or
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WE ARE ALL STILL INVIGORATED by the amazing atmosphere you brought with you. It affected everyone and is being commented on in many different ways.
OUTREACH
WE HELD A N UNSCHED ULED ‘SPEC - the first tim IAL’ ASSEM e I have do BLY TODAY ne this in four ye their stories. to talk abou ars. We show Sherri got al t the weeke ed photos an nd l the childre challenges an n d had child w ho at d their favour tended up on ren telling ite moments sta very specia ge an d they talked and what th l time for ev about the ey planned eryone. to do in the Hive. It was a
LEADERSHIP ROUNDTABLE Text by Al Ronberg.
iving Stones is a leadership resourcing ministry headed up by our very own Rowland Forman. Every year they run a Leadership Roundtable which, despite the lack of an actual round table, is a very refreshing time of challenge and input from some very passionate and skilled pastors and theologians. This year I was very drawn to how different churches and ministries are finding creative ways to engage their local communities. My independent observation of how churches generally seek to engage their community is to run big events that are essentially attractional. A big part of why I have been drawn towards BotanyLife is the community projects that we are so passionate about, but more than that, the underlying idea that our best opportunity to be salt and light to our community, is to go where they like to go, and to invest ourselves in the things that are important to them!
asked me to do, I find myself considerably challenged to give more, to sacrifice more and if I am to be honest, to care more. As the year comes to a close, it is exciting that we still have so much ahead of us, so many opportunities to connect with people beyond our Sunday services - not just in one big community project each year, but in the simple everyday relationships we cultivate in our schools, our workplaces and in our families.
Hearing stories of how leaders’ hearts are breaking for the people that God brings across their paths was a truly humbling experience, and as I reflect upon what this might mean for the things I know God has 14
gle Girls’ and it was all about the `Jun Tonight was awesome… having fun! , salami and pizza with ham, cheese First we made homemade each got to zas were cooking, we cheerios. While our piz gel pens, cupcakes with decorating decorate our very own turns k too h eac pink icing, then pink marshmallows and eating and nds frie our h , chilling wit relaxing with a foot spa our yummo pizzas. is all about the movie Soul Surfer, which We then watched the of 13, she was age y Hamilton. At the amazing story of Bethan courage to the had but lost an arm, attacked by a shark and an amazing and surf again. It was go back into the ocean going gets to not give up when the story, and reminded us we watched ile Wh with us all the time. tough, and that God is it and , led cur r hai girls got their the movie, some of the looked great! -together already! next `Jungle Girls’ get Looking forward to the By Kate Hosking
BibleWise
Find the Difference, Rahab Rahab hides Joshua's spies. Find what is different in each picture.
Copyright © 2011, BibleWise. All Rights Reserved. Drawing by JJ Johnston.
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KID’S PORTAL
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JUNGLE GIRLS’ SOCIA
HERE’S A BIT OF FUN... KID’S PORTAL
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” ©Jellyfish One 2011 www.whatsinthebible.com
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
True or False - Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Issac? What was Abraham’s name before God changed it? What was Abraham’s nephew called? The names of Isaac and Rebecca’s twins were? Jacob had 12 sons, who was his favourite? Who did God call to lead the people out of Egypt? How many plagues were there in Egypt? What were they? True or False - To cross the Red Sea the Israelites had to swim. While the Israelites were in the desert what did God provide for food? What is the most important commandment?
ANSWERS: 1. True; 2. Abram; 3. Lot; 4. Esau and Jacob; 5. Joseph; 6. Moses; 7. 10 - water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn; 8. False; 9. Manna and Quail; 10. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all you strength
© 2010 Jellyfish Labs, LLC
- Genesis 2:15
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TEST YOUR MEMORY...
CROSSWORD PUZZLE 1
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ACROSS
DOWN 1. It took 1600 ____ to write the Bible.
5.. Another word for the first 5 books of the Bible 6. There are 66 ____ in the Bible.
2. Who was the woman created to be Adam’s companion?
7. The first book of the Bible.
3. Man of News
9. There are 27 books in the ____ Testament.
4. Translated the Bible from Hebrew to Latin
10. The second book of the Bible.
8. What animal tempted Eve?
11. The word “testament” means _____.
9. Who built the ark during the flood? 12. Sunday School Lady uses a _____ flannelgraph.
13. Clive’s brother
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KID’S PORTAL
DVD 1: In the Beginning
Recipe by Louise Hopman.
KID’S PORTAL I love this cake and it is super easy, especially if you want the kids to help. Just throw all ing redients into the food processor or cake mixer, mix till combined and chu ck in the oven. Try stepping it up - som e ideas at the end of the recipe
CAKE 1 2/3 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 1/2 cups sugar 2/3 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp salt 1 1/2 cups milk 100g butter, melted 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla ICING 100g butter 250g icing sugar 1/3 cup cocoa Little milk to mix 1 tsp vanilla essence
Heat oven to 180°C. Line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper. I wouldn’t recommend a loose bottomed cake tin for this recipe as it is very runny and will drip out of tin. If that is all you have make sure you line it well. Put all ingredients in a food processor or cake mixer and mix together until combined. Pour into prepared tin. Bake for at least 50minutes. Cake is cooked when a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. To make icing beat all ingredients together and add a little milk as needed to get a smooth spreadable consistency. Ice cake when cold; if your cake is still warm your icing will melt off! 18
STEP IT UP! Add a handful of chocolate chips to mixture. Stir through some raspberry jam just before you bake. Slice cake in half and add some raspberry jam to the centre. See what else you can try! Maybe for an adults’ treat you could pour some Kahlua or coffee over the hot cake as it comes out of the oven. For kids add Smarties or M&M’s instead of choc chips. YOU ARE ONLY LIMITED BY YOUR IMAGINATION! Happy baking,
the service got underway with some great children’s worship, led by many of the BotanyKids team. There was also some adult and children’s quizzes (testing their knowledge of birds and angry words in the Bible); a fantastic drama with the “Angry Nerds” (Kelvin and Lochie were outstanding!!); and even a life-size Angry Birds game complete with a slingshot!!
ngry Birds is the title of one of the most popular “apps” available on phones, i-pods and tablets today. Children and adults the world over are addicted to the challenge of taking down the baddie pigs by firing birds from a slingshot. ANGRY BIRDS IS GREAT - ANGRY WORDS ARE NOT. That was the focus of our second annual “Family Service,” held on Sunday 24th June. After the great success of our first family service in 2011, another service with all the children and adults together was planned for this year. The fact that the weekend of this year’s Family Service was only our second Sunday at the new Botany College venue just added some more fun to the day!
The whole point, of course, was for all of us to be reminded that our angry words hurt each other. The message reminded us to “Stop! Think! Pray!”, before using words that wound someone else. Hopefully people have been putting that into practice, and less angry words have been flying around the house these days! A huge thanks to the wonderful team who staged our “Angry Words” Family Service, especially Mel Palmer, Mandy Francis, Andrew Brooks and Mark van Wijk.
And what a fun service is was! Many of the children enjoyed some pre-service fun playing the actual Angry Birds games before 19
FAMILY SERVICE
Text by Brad Carr.
YOUTH MINISTRY
Xchange: fostering relationships through
FAITH Text by Thomas Woodfield.
“DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND, THAT BY TESTING YOU MAY DISCERN WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD, WHAT IS GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE AND PERFECT” - ROMANS 12:2 (ESV)
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consider a career as an intermediate teacher. Reacting to the need for an intermediate group, Mike approached Brad; “The eldership had been praying for about three or four months prior that someone would step forward to take on this ministry, so there wasn’t a lot of discussion - it was like, “oh that’s cool, when do you start?”
ed by Mike and Rachael Read, Xchange is a group that meets on Sunday mornings during the school terms. Catering for year 7 and 8 (forms 1 and 2), this group bridges the gap between BotanyKids and ALTR, aiming to foster relationships between members and build a foundation of faith which will continue to grow through high school years.
On top of the Sunday morning programme, twice a term on a Friday night the group gets together for social activities, ranging from the more sedate movie night to more extreme activities. The “Fear Factor” social from last year, which took place on Paul and Rachel Knight’s farm involved “lots of food, lots of mess, [and] lots of cold people”. This term has seen Xchange do rock climbing and a movie night as indoor activities are preferable during the autumn and winter terms.
As Mike puts it, the group aims to “help them to understand why they believe”. “It’s [also] about moving from dependence to starting the journey of independence”. Their Sunday morning programme, combined with twice-a-term socials, are the tools used by Mike, Rachael and their team of leaders to bring this about. During church, the youths engage in a forum-like setting where discussions are guided around questions of faith, relationships and choices. This past term has seen them grapple with issues such as “Will I be ok when the world ends?”, and, “Do I have to tell others about God?” It’s not just leaders asking the tricky questions, according to Mike. “Every now and then we have some bright spark kid that’s got some challenging views on things which requires some sound theology to steer in the right direction...!”
Rachael points out that more important than the activities themselves is what they promote: “[Socials are] about relationships; giving them an opportunity to connect with each other”. And it’s all part of the change process. “It’s a big deal for parents, dropping their ten or eleven-year-old at some strangers’ place,” says Mike, “It’s the parents... starting to see that their soon-to-be teenagers will go off and start doing youth group stuff... they’re growing up,” adds Rachael.
Their assortment of “great, strong, up-front leaders” are a valuable asset. “They all take the big idea and do something different with it,” says Rachael.
“We’ve loved seeing the kids grow through the two years that we have them, and it’s always hard at the end, bittersweet as they move on. It takes them two years, but that’s great; seeing them ready to go”.
Xchange came about through Mike’s interest in youth, which had led him not only to undertake a youth pastors’ course, but also to 20
YOUTH MINISTRY
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EDUCATION
carey
C AREY BAPTIST COLLEGE
BAPTIST COLLEGE Te K a r e t i I r i i r i O C a r e y
Te K a r e t i I r i i r i O C a r e y
CAREY BAPTIS T COLL E GE Te Kareti Iriiri O Carey
Prospectus 2012 -13 carey CAREY C AREY
carey
BAPTIST COLLEGE Te K a r e t i I r i i r i O C a r e y
B A PT I ST C O LLEG E
C
Te K a r e t i I r i i r i O C a r e y
Text by Andrew Mackereth.
BAPTIST COLLEGE Te K a r e t i I r i i r i O C a r e y
AREY
BAPTIST COLLEGE
Te K a r e t i I r i i r i O C a r e y
BAPTIS T COLLE GE Te K a r e t i I r i i r i O C a r e y
CAREY BAPTIS T COLL E GE Te Kareti Iriiri O Carey
Prospectus 2012 -13 carey CAREY C AREY
have recently been burdened to encourage my brothers and sisters at BotanyLife to think about the opportunities for Christian education that are available to us in New Zealand.
Having just completed 18 months of technically part-time study at Carey Baptist College, I can honestly say that I have learned more about my God these B Ain PT I S Tlast C 18 O Lmonths L E G Ethan in the five years preceding them. I mingled with Christians from a plethora of Te Te K a r e t i I r i i r i O C a r e y backgrounds and traditions. I participated in a community which feeds it students twice a week for free. I was taught how to read Scripture (better), how to study Scripture (better), and how to begin the process of applying it. In Christology, I was confronted with the importance of Christ’s ongoing representation of humanity to the Father; this was a highlight for me. As much as I had been given to believe that studies in classical and systematic theology were dull and clinical, I found them to be anything but. As I have grown in theological precision I have also grown in awe of Christ. There’s a running joke at Carey that “Jesus” is the answer to every question and I found that to be exactly right, although I learned that it is isn’t enough to simply state that: at Carey and in the real world you are required to show your working.
But on the off chance that a few of you (like me) require and/or desire a more structured learning process, I would suggest you think seriously about formal theological study to complement and give context to your personal faith journey. Being young and unmarried, I of course have a lot more time on my hands than you may do. I can appreciate, at least in theory, the numerous demands B A PTyour I ST Ctime O LLEG E upon which might make studying difficult. TI would suggest BAPTIS COLLE GE K a rthat e t i in I r i spite i r i O of C athe r e y difficulty you wouldn’t Te regret it. I would argue Kareti Iriiri O Carey that there are options available that might make part-time study an easy and tolerable proposition for you.
With everything going on, you might only be able to manage a paper a year. You might choose to study by distance. You might only be free in the evenings so choose to attend night classes or only free at weekends so choose to take advantage of day-courses offered by Living Stones. You might have no time at all for assignments so choose to merely sit in on (or “audit”) papers instead; and if you’re not fussed about studying for any sort of accreditation, this is a credible option. The reality is that there are diverse and relatively flexible options. You might not be able to spare much of your time, but what little you can would assuredly be well invested.
This piece isn’t an advertisement for Carey. It is a fine school, full of fine people and staff, offering fine courses and opportunities for growth, worship and community (you should be so lucky). However, all of these things I know about Carey, I have good authority to believe, are true of Laidlaw and Pathways also. The fact of the matter is that when it comes to theological schools, we are spoiled for choice! There are more options than we know what to do with. I have felt God burdening me to encourage others to take stock of these options. Many of you are living in Scripture and reading books and growing spectacularly into the image of Christ. Amen.
I am immensely grateful for the opportunity that was presented to me to spend such a length of time studying my God in detail. It is my ambition to continue studying in a reduced capacity in the new year and to continue to do so in subsequent years. It is my hope that I might be able to encourage others to think seriously about doing the same. It seems a shame to waste such valuable resources, especially when they have been made so accessible to us. I am speaking entirely from experience, but it is my suspicion that as one is confronted with new but orthodox ways of thinking and speaking about Christ that one cannot help but grow in awe of him. 22
once w as a mag c alled P space, ortal due to creativ e sho So ge rtfall t off your c Grab huff your c rayons Cos t and s his is tuff as go withou od as t you we ca n do and it ’s AW send your c FUL! r e ative so With
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work e.g. po etc to ems, portal@ art, botan ylife.or g.nz
CREATIVE SPACE
There
COMMUNITY
Reflections on Riverina Text by Brad Carr.
A
number of weeks ago we celebrated our final church service at Riverina School. We were celebrating God’s provision of Botany College, and frantically planning how we would manage all the logistics of the move. But as we stood and sang a final couple of songs during that last service, I have to admit feeling a little emotional saying goodbye to that little school hall. Riverina was the school that opened its doors to us when we were struggling to find a rental facility to meet in as a church at the start of 2004. Even though it wasn’t in the area our name suggested - more like on the edge of Pakuranga and Panmure - we were grateful to find somewhere to meet as a church after a somewhat fruitless search to that point. Yet it became our home for the first eight and a half years of our life as a church, and as I looked back on that time during that final service there were many things I thanked God for. I gave thanks for that initial leadership team of five couples - Andy and Nikki Bray, Stan and Margaret Bloxham, Robin and Sonia Byrne, Cliff and Cassy Hand, and Rochelle and I - who made wise decisions about the mission and core DNA of our church that still guide us today. I gave thanks for the thirty or so other people in our core group who chose to leave an established church behind to be part of starting something new out in their
community of East Auckland. I gave thanks to God for the wonderful people he has brought to our church family over the years, who now play key roles in our church. So many people have now become dearly loved brothers and sisters, and fellow pilgrims on this journey of life. I gave thanks for the new leaders God has brought as elders and staff - Harataki and Shona Manihera, Steve and Robyn Young, Todd and Sheree Hughes, KK and Susan Leong, Mark and Steph van Wijk, Mel and Drew Palmer, Mel and Julian Thorburn, Mandy Francis, and Shellene and John Garofalakis. And our wider team of outstanding ministry leaders throughout our church - what a great team to lock arms with. I gave thanks for our first community project held at Riverina School when we were just four months old. I gave thanks for the gardens that were planted, the toilet block that was painted, the curtains that were sewn, and the playground equipment that was built. But I also gave thanks to God for planting a calling in our hearts to be a “go and do” church.
dramas, moving testimonies, quiet moments, stirring worship, and Bible-centred sermons. I gave thanks for the number of teenagers and adults who have been baptised in the chilly waters of the Riverina school pool each March, signifying their faith in Jesus and their commitment to him. I gave thanks for the families who have joined us over the last eight years, and the babies that have been born during that time. I gave thanks for all the Bible lessons taught to our children in the Oscar rooms, classrooms, staff room, library and even corridors. And I gave thanks for the number of children that have opened their hearts to Jesus in those rooms and trusted in him for the first time. But most of all I gave thanks to a God who has been faithful to us as a church, through the thrilling times and the tough times, through excitement and tragedy.
I gave thanks for the people who have found Christ at Riverina during or after church services or Christianity Explored groups.
And I gave thanks that the church is not a building - it is not defined by the premises where it meets, whether that’s a majestic cathedral or a simple church hall. The church is the people, the community of faith of those who have trusted in Jesus and are being built into the new temple of the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:19-22).
I gave thanks for the over 400 church services we have held in that school hall - for times of heartfelt worship, times of reflection and prayer, times of repentance and confession. I gave thanks for zany
And as I stood and sung praises in that final service, with tears in my eyes, I gave thanks for you, and that you are a part of what God is doing at BotanyLife - wherever we may meet.
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1945 BC Community Group wanted to give back to our community. So we decided to have a big cook up of Cannelloni and Fiji Curry to freeze for the BotanyChef’s. It was a night of good times, good company and great smelling food which made us all HUNGRY!
COMMUNITY
25
WHO’S THAT?
Pete and Melissa
Guyan
Text by Mel Thorburn.
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hile I have had the joy of spending time with, and getting to know, Melissa over the past couple of years, this was my first decent conversation with her husband, Pete, where we did more than share niceties around kids’ demands after a church service. And what surprised me was that spending time with Melissa and Pete Guyan is kind of like talking to conjoined twins. They are very natural together and their replies almost seamlessly marry into one fluent story. It was really great to hang out with them and their two boys, Jake and Brody, for an afternoon. The story behind how this harmonious couple came to find one another is quite amusing. After a six month stint in the USA, Pete returned to his home church here in Auckland in 1999. Whilst sitting in the congregation he noticed this ‘babe’ singing up front, leaned over to his brother, Phil Guyan, and asked “Who is she? I want to go and meet her!” Unbeknownst to Pete, Melissa’s parents were sitting right behind him hearing the whole conversation! And what’s more, her dad was the minister of the church at the time too. Awkward - but memorable I’m sure! Whilst Melissa has toyed with putting her hand up to join the worship team, this musical talent has been somewhat hidden from most of us at BotanyLife. But it should be noted that music is strong in the Guyan household. Melissa is very artistic, being a singer, song writer and pianist. Pete’s brilliance shines through in his directing several school musicals, plus playing the saxophone - which he admits he has tried to keep secret from Brad!
Melissa is currently developing another creative outlet. She is kicking off her writing career around being an at home mum. Melissa has self-published three novels to date, with another hopefully due for release at the end of this year. Melissa feels privileged to have not only found her passion, but also to be in a position where she can do it. Her dream would be to write full time when both kids go to school, but realistically it may be more like working one to two days and writing three days. Of key importance for her is that she is there for the kids and being able to work her own hours with writing allows for this. Pete started at Bucklands Beach Intermediate in 1995, and even taught on section there during teacher’s college. However, after an illustrious career of leading students both on the stage and on camp, Pete has made a big change! In August, the whole family moved to Suzhou Industrial Park in China, where Pete is teaching maths and science to 11-13 year olds at an international school. The move to China was driven in part by financial motivation, allowing Melissa to continue developing her writing career and be a stay at home mum. But interestingly this is a move that has been on Melissa’s heart for some time. Having grown up in Pakistan where her parents were missionaries, Melissa attended an international school herself. She absolutely loved it and knew that she wanted her kids to have this experience too. God has stepped in and guided their decision making as everything came together very easily and painlessly. Obviously Pete’s outstanding skill-set and great experience made him a much sought after candidate too! 26
On being asked what the hardest thing is about moving to China, Pete gave the true kiwi-bloke answer... sport! Whilst he’s hoping they’ll have cable, he is not sure if he’ll get to play hockey, which he’s done so for the last 30 years. Melissa’s answer on the other hand was more relational; leaving Mum whom she speaks to daily in Hamilton, and her best friend Brenda who she emails 3-4 times a day on the North Shore. And BotanyLife made mention on this list too - when returning to NZ they will come worship with us as they view BotanyLife as their church home and love coming here. Fun in the Guyan household for their eldest son Jake (4) takes the form of exploring new spots (like Musick Point), after school wrestling matches (when daddy gets home) and lights-off lounge discos. Though Brody is only 13 months old, he seems to be a man’s-man and is following daddy’s love of all things sporting. Melissa and Pete are huge movie fans, so an ideal date night for them is to go see a movie. Often this takes the form of getting a special dessert and DVD to have an in-home movie night. So that’s a snapshot of what I learned about the Guyan’s in an afternoon. They are a lovely family who are very easy to hang out with and chat to. And a couple of food-related fun-facts you should know: both have a sweet tooth (cheesecake and chocolate mud cake rating highly), but don’t feed Melissa gluten or fruit and vegies to Pete - he honestly does have a legitimate reason to turn down the brussel sprouts!
WHO’S THAT?
Thomas Woodfield Text by Charlotte Woodfield.
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fter living with Thomas for over half her life, we reckoned Charlotte must know him pretty well. So we asked her to interview him... It’s a mild Auckland afternoon, and I’m sitting opposite Thomas in Circus Circus café, two plates of delicious food and a recording device between us. Thomas is explaining an early life event he’s well aware of but doesn’t exactly remember - his birth. Like me, he was born in Christchurch. (Our older sister, Amelia, bucked the trend and was born in Wellington.) “We’ve got the photo album in Christchurch (with) the original tags that we had on our bassinets in hospital, and photos of us, in Mum’s arms... all that babyish sort of - ‘what am I doing here? I’m so confused.’ ” And like all three of us, he grew up in Christchurch. At 20, Thomas moved to Auckland to attend university. “I’ve done a bachelor of music majoring in classical performance.” While he was at first (in his own words) improving his ability to “sing like a girl” (also known as countertenor, or male alto, his honours year focus is on musicology, “basically music history and literature. My real area of interest is Tudor church music.”
But Thomas is not just keen on old dead musicians. He also loves watching sport ranging from NFL to provincial rugby. Sport was something he did with his dad - sitting down to watch the rugby on Friday and Saturday nights together, “and that was really cool.” (Until it was interrupted by the girls of his family asking them to yell a little less.) Not many people get baptised by their very own grandfather. Ours happened to be a Methodist minister. Thomas says he was blessed to be born into a Christian family, “but I didn’t really understand and engage with it, I just sort of went ‘well, I believe in God, and that’s awesome, he’ll be there for me forever and ever, amen.’ ” He’s developed and changed since being a self-confessed “fairly difficult” teenager. “I look back and go ‘I was an idiot’.” While he says his move to Auckland helped him grow up, he also started to walk away from Jesus. “I suppose it was really though January, February of 2010 that I really hit rock bottom.” A relationship had ended and our grandfather - to whom Thomas was especially close - had just passed away. “It was at that point that I really went “Ok, where do I turn?” And it was really God that pulled me out of that.” As he puts it, “God decided to stick with me and he didn’t let me go, he never let me go.” 27
He came to BotanyLife for the first time in March 2010. He’d been invited along before then, but singing at the cathedral - his job at the time - kept him busy on Sundays. “Not to denigrate Anglicans at all, (but) it wasn’t church for me. It wasn’t growing me spiritually. (Then) I think it was Aimee, invited me to church, in March 2010 (after I’d left the cathedral).” That first time at BotanyLife, Thomas recalls, he was in a really bad space. But he still remembers clearly the sermon he heard that morning. “It was the Judges series at that point, the sermon was about not putting God in a box. And it was a really gory sermon, a really guy sermon, it spoke to me really powerfully. “As a musician I can get good music wherever I go, and I can engage in any music, but for me it was really important to have really good Biblical teaching, and that’s what I’ve found at Botany, and that’s why I’ve stayed, and that’s why I love Botany.” He’s certainly got stuck in - helping out with parking, and with Botany Kids as a big group leader. “We have great times together, because I think we’re on the same mental level... bright colours! Squirrels! Let’s run around!” I think it’s best I make no comment on that...
MOVIE REVIEWS
grab a comfy seat, turn the volume up, grab some popcorn, it’s...
Review Time Family | THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN Reviewed by Melissa Guyan
I grew up with TinTin. My brother loved the comic books, so when I saw the movie was being released I was super excited. I was initially disappointed to hear it was going to be animated, but I had nothing to worry about. The graphics in this movie are amazing. Even if TinTin is not your thing, I’d recommend watching it just to be astounded with the fabulous job Speilberg and Jackson did. The story is fast paced, filled with adventure, action and a really great storyline. Pete and I were testing it out to see if our four year old was ready for it, but the storyline is aimed at older children and there is quite a bit of physical fighting throughout the movie.
If you have older children, it is a great family movie... no one will be bored, that’s for sure!
the cost when we try to take justice into our
Length: 1hr 47mins
to do so? Machine Gun Preacher asks all of
Rating: PG - contains violence
Age: My personal opinion - 9 years and over
True Story | MACHINE GUN PREACHER Reviewed by Andrew Mackereth
You might argue that Gerald Butler certainly isn’t doing what Jesus would do, but at least he’s doing something. Machine Gun Preacher is a movie about humanitarianism and militarism. Containing moderate amounts of vulgarity and violence, this is not a movie that you should watch with your kids. It is, however, very thought provoking. How seriously do we take Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek? Would we fight or kill to protect our families? Then why not also to protect our brothers and sisters in the Sudan and Uganda? What is
own hands? What is the cost when we fail these questions. It does not glorify violence. It does not put Sam Childers (upon whose life and actions the film is based) upon a pedestal. It simply illustrates the consequences of his powerful obsession with “justice”: how it changes the lives of children in the Sudan and Uganda; how it changes the lives of his family; how it changes him. All in all, it is a fascinating and enthralling character study. I would recommend this film to pacifists, militants, lovers of philosophy and fans of Gerald Butler. Length: 1hr 29mins
Rating: R16
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.
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The Ben Carson Story
by Gregg Lewis and Deborah Shaw Lewis
Text by Harrison Carr.
G
was really bad, which explained a bit of why he was getting bad grades. When he got glasses he was really surprised by how much he could see. The second thing that happened in fifth grade was his mother made Ben and his brother only watch TV shows three times a week. The rest of the time they had to spend reading books and they had to write two book reports every week for their mum on what they had read. What they didn’t realise until they were a bit older was that their mum couldn’t read (they gave their book reports out loud). Their mum knew how hard it was not being able to read, and really wanted them to read and write and get a good education.
ifted Hands is the story of Ben Carson, who is one of the world’s best brain surgeons. He has performed some of the most difficult surgeries in the world, such as separating Siamese twins joined at the head, and performing a “hemispherectomy” which involved removing one side of a person’s brain. What makes his story special is that he started off from a really hard background. Ben Carson started out in a really poor family. They couldn’t afford all the things that his friends had, and he struggled with anger issues. His dad left home when Ben was eight years old and his older brother Curtis was ten, leaving their mum to bring them up on her own. She really struggled and had to check herself into mental hospitals a number of times suffering from depression. Ben also struggled in school, getting really bad grades and being picked on as the class “dummy.”
After junior high and high school, Ben studied at Yale University and then the University of Michigan Medical School. At the end of medical school he made the decision to go into brain surgery, and was accepted at Johns Hopkins Medical Hospital, the most famous training hospital in the world. After studying there and then working for a year in Australia, he joined the staff at John Hopkins, and did some of his famous operations. The “himespherectomy” and the operations on the Siamese twins, made him world famous.
Those struggles with anger grew until he was 14 and got so angry at his mum about a pair of pants she had bought that he tried to hit her. His brother stopped him. But Ben felt so bad he sat in the bathroom for 4 hours reading his Bible and praying that God would help him with his anger issues. After those four hours in the bathroom his relationship with God became very real, and he never had issues with anger again.
What I learnt from the book is that no matter what kind of background you come from or struggles you have, with God’s help you can achieve your dreams and goals with determination and hard work. I would recommend this book to people who like being inspired by others’ stories. Gifted Hands is published in an adult’s edition and also in the Zonderkidz Biography Series for kids and young teens.
Two things happened to Ben when he was in fifth grade (Year 6 in New Zealand) that changed the way he lived. The first thing was that he had his eyes tested and they found out his eyesight 29
BOOK REVIEW
GIFTED HANDS:
MARRIAGE / PARENTING
Love
Unconditional
Text by Nikki Bray
A
have to learn those lessons the hard way. But if you did make a wrong choice our love would never be in question. We will always love and support you no matter what the future holds. We want you to know that just as you cannot be separated from God’s love our love is always there too.”.
s I’ve pondered the sad story of another young student who had an abortion without her parents consent these past few days, I’ve been taken down the path of unconditional love, and the absolute necessity that our children know that they are loved no matter what. Our daughter is now 18 but I remember vividly an incident when she was just 11. Andy and I had been talking about this whole topic of unconditional love one evening and I was adamant that our children knew that they were loved unreservedly. But our conversation got me thinking so I went into her bedroom, sat on the end of her bed and said to our daughter, “Sweetie, I want you to know something really important: there is nothing you could do that would make me love you more and there is nothing you could ever do that would make me love you less”. I thought to myself, “she knows that anyway’, but now I’ve made it very clear.” I was totally surprised when she took the topic further and said, “you mean there’s nothing I could ever do or achieve that would give me more of your love?”.
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 will never forget her face that evening - she looked at me with her big beautiful eyes and she cried. My little girl’s face was filled with so much relief as she was overwhelmed with what it means to be truly loved. I was shocked by her tears, but also thankful for the opportunity to express unconditional love to our daughter.
“That’s right, darling” I replied. But she went on seeking even more clarification: “And there’s absolutely nothing I could do - no bad choice, no mistake, no failure, that would make you love me less? Absolutely nothing?”.
I learnt that evening never to presume that our children know they are loved. We need to express unconditional love to them with our words as well as our actions. I also believe that it’s not a one–off discussion. As they navigate their way through life they need to know regularly that we, their parents, are in their corner. And when life gets hard and they stuff up, we may be disappointed for them but we will never reject them. So parents, make sure they know.
“No honey”, I said, “Nothing. We cannot love you any more than we already do - you don’t need to earn our love, it’s there, complete. And while you may one day make a bad choice, we would never love you less. Wrong choices can have devastating consequences and there are natural consequences to wrong choices that can make life incredibly hard - and we hope and pray that you don’t 30
Friday 19th Monday 22nd October
p Switch-On Cam
Friday 30th November Final Chickzone event for 2012
Monday 24th December Christmas Eve service
Sunday 21s t October Song of S ongs series begin s
Sunday 9th December
BotanyKids s Christmas partie
Sunday 30th December & Sunday 6th January
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Community Project
Wednesday 31st October
BotanyLife mainlymusic’s 7th birthday
Sunday 16th December
Jesus’ Birthda y Party
Sunday 13th January 2013
Summer series begins
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