Lift Magazine Issue 8 Spring 2012

ISSue 08: SprINg 2012 pLease make a goLd Coin donation

shona CoLLinson Please don’t make me a missionary!

CLayton kimpton

Nothing Comes Easy

Jo LittLe

Giving God Room

You can do anything with God mareLize Bester

From the

Lift (“Life Integrating Faith Together”) is the quarterly magazine of Windsor Park Baptist Church, PO Box 65385, Mairangi Bay, Auckland 0654. Its aim and vision is to reveal members of the church serving God in all their diversity.

Ideas and articles for future issues are welcome. Contact the editor at editor@liftmagazine.org Lift is a member of the Australasian Religious Press Association.

Senior Pastor

Grant Harris Editor

Julie Belding editor@liftmagazine.org Advertising

Bert Holl advertise@liftmagazine.org Design & Production

Lewis Hurst lewis@hcreative.co.nz Writers

Pam Bedwell, Grant Harris, David Knell, Iain Litterick, Dani Mackay, Helen Rayner, Elle Treweek Photographers

Belinda Bradley, Ash Binnie, Devin Hart, Asher Pilbrow ISSN 2230-2646

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’m writing this editorial from a great height – I’m actually tapping away on my laptop thinking of Windsor Park while flying over the Northern Territory of Australia on my way to Singapore where I’ll be for two hours before heading to Kolkata for ten days, so this is a worldly editorial!

I don’t sleep in planes so it’s been a bit of a “movie fest” thus far. I’ve just finished watching Detachment – one of those deep and fairly dark movies that doesn’t have a particularly happy ending. The synopsis is, “A substitute teacher who drifts from classroom to classroom finds a connection to the students and teachers during his latest assignment.” Yep, doesn’t sound all that enticing and I’d only encourage you to watch it if you’re comfortable with “language” (you know what I mean) and I’m not recommending it to my teenage kids either.

But I do love movies that have significant spiritual themes in them, and I’d rate this movie as one of them.

In essence it’s about a bunch of people who are dealing in their own ways with various aspects of their broken lives. From the lead character and his sense of abandonment as a child that makes him stay at a distance from others, to prostitution, suicide, depression, marriage breakdown, aging, career loss and lack of hope – this movie has it all! From my perspective it successfully portrays many of the life situations that people on the North

Belinda Bradley

senior pastor

Shore of Auckland, even in Windsor Park Baptist Church, are facing today.

The aspect the movie lacked, apart from a small glimpse towards the end, was that there is hope, particularly the type of hope that can be had in a relationship with Jesus and that it’ll be all right in the end if we hang in there with Him (the end including eternity).

It’s the hanging in there with Jesus that can be problematic for so many people. Like little children, our span of attention towards the future is so short. We expect God to do the things that we want Him to do tomorrow ( or preferably today) and patience is something most of us need more of. As we enter our eighth edition of LIFT, I’m finding each issue to be an encouragement to my own journey in life. Each issue adds to the previous one in providing story after story of people sharing a small part of their life with us, acknowledging how God has made some difference to the way they live. And the more stories I read, the more encouraged I get.

I hope that you have the courage to share these stories with our wider community, because they really are worth sharing. And as we live our own stories that people might see the light of the world in us, not the dark endings of movies like Detachment.

And I reckon some of you will go watch it now!

Peace.

Grant

Contents Contents 2 4 6 9 12 14 16 18 21

Cover Photo: Marelize Bester with her daughter Kayla.

Photographer: Devin Hart

© pink sherbet photography flickr.com

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Editorial : Pastor Grant Harris Snippets : What’s happening at Windsor?

Please Don’t Make Me a Missionary to India Helen Rayner talks to Shona Collinson Law and Life: “Nothing comes easy” Julie Belding talks to Clayton Kimpton You Can Do Anything… with God Iain Litterick talks to Marelize Bester The Dream Centre A photo essay by Asher Pilbrow God’s Hands and Feet Elle Treweek writes of her YWAM experience Giving God Room Pam Bedwell talks to Jo Little Body and Soul David Knell talks to Andrew and Christine Smith Theosart : Exhibition by Bryant Judd Ask Grant : Q&A with Pastor Grant Harris Spring Poem by Julie Belding

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Faith 24/7 The pastors of our SYNC churches hope that you’ve been enjoying (and utilising) the range of extra resources we’ve been providing outside of our Sunday gatherings. The reader that accompanies our series and the website www.pressingon.org.nz has been developed to give you access to the series we’re working through wherever you are in the world, with a range of extra reading and options that contribute to the Sunday messages. The ability to podcast our messages through iTunes (or listen to them through www.windsorpark.org.nz) means there’s no reason to miss anything that’s going on. We recognise that the demands of life mean that on any particular Sunday, about a third (or even up to a half) of people are not at our gatherings, but that doesn’t mean we take a break from faith. Our hope is that we see faith as something needing to be integrated into our lives 24/7; into our workplaces, our homes and everywhere else we hang out at. We also value your input into our creative processes. If you feel there are things we can add to the smorgasbord of options available, please let us know by emailing info@windsorpark.org.nz. (Although if your idea is really good, we might ask you to be involved in its delivery!)

Out On The Wards

One of the things Windsor Park people love to do is serve others. This fits well with the Spiritual Formation model we introduced this year, as one of the things we encourage is “doing” – getting out and about putting faith into action. There are so many ways people express this, but we want to share an email we received that shows the effect this has.

Each month a group of young people head up to North Shore Hospital and help people get to the Sunday chapel service. Here’s what someone wrote to us: “Hi, I just wanted to say how impressed I was with the young people who turned up to help out with the chapel service yesterday. They were lovely with the patients, sharing the orders of service, pointing out where the service was up to etc. They gave time to the patients they were in charge of, and listened well to them. Eden in particular appears to have a big heart for people. Sounds like she intends to do some study at Carey and then go for medicine. I’m sure she will be a mighty woman of God in the mission field, a young woman for us to nurture and encourage.”

Cool!

Look Above In the winter of your life, When it seems there is nothing but strife.

Look beyond, above To the one who is love.

He promises to meet your every need He is trustworthy indeed!

Look up, reach out He is what this life’s all about.

Let him set you free.

No matter what you see He is above it all, Only with him you will truly soar.

– Karen Baird

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snippets

making sense of us

Every four years New Zealand holds a census. This gives the government a good idea of who’s living in our country so that they can [theoretically] develop policy that meets our needs. For the rest of 2012 Windsor Park Baptist Church is going to hold its own census to help us make sense of us.

With a new database in place we realise we’ve got a massive amount of work to do so that we can best plan for the needs of our community. Over the last months of 2012 you’ll see a census form being placed everywhere where we can place them!

We’d appreciate your filling one out for you and your family. The more information we get, the fuller the picture of our community is, so dates of birth would be great, please! Rest assured, we’ve got great security around our database and we promise not to sell your information to anyone else.

(Although everyone has their price. Joking!) You can also access, change, or delete your information at any time – we hope that within a year you’ll be able to do this online, as well as access our directory online and on mobile devices. We really appreciate your help with this.

Knitting is in Being a church on the larger scale, we celebrate the diversity that exists among us. We’re the richer for the many and varied contributions that people make, and acknowledge that everyone has gifts and abilities god can use to contribute to lives all over the world. recently a group of ladies from one of our Life groups decided to do something practical and knitted a bunch of garments. These were sent to the Ithemba eliphilisayo project we support in a struggling township in South Africa. The response we received said it all: “We received a bag of the most beautifully knitted jerseys for the children. The style was different from the ‘normal’ jerseys – so cute, and the colours warm and vibrant. The caregivers’ eyes lit up in amazement and they were excited to be able to take something so beautiful to the children. This handwork really was a great example of a deed of kindness and such an encouragement to the caregivers, especially those with little kiddies.”

A big “thumbs up” to all those who contributed, and hopefully this might spark some ideas for other ways in which Life groups can work on something together.

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Belinda Bradley

the idea of giving up something CLose to her, in return for a Wider vision, is a reCurring theme for shona. in her Work, in her faith, and in her serviCe, shona has the gift of a Wider perspeCtive.

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ministry

Please Don’t Make Me a Missionary to India Helen Rayner talks to Shona Collinson

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hona (Miers) Collinson recently had laser surgery. Although taking part in her favourite water sports is now much easier, she can no longer read without glasses. It is, she tells me, a metaphor for her life. The idea of giving up something close to her, in return for a wider vision, is a recurring theme for Shona. In her work, in her faith, and in her service, Shona has the gift of a wider perspective. The idea of contributing to a larger story drives her in her work with people whom society has written off. It means she could move beyond her own fears and share with others the hope she has found. And it means she can now look beyond her local region and have an international impact, training Christians in India to share the Gospel with their people through Global Alpha.

Background Of Irish Catholic descent, Shona attended church as a child but her family stopped attending once her grandmother died. It was in 1997 that a work colleague, Janice Dunn, invited her to a Bible-reading session in the new Windsor Park Baptist Church building. For reasons which still slightly baffle her, Shona agreed to go along. Then, for more reasons she doesn’t quite understand, she kept going to church every Sunday. Several months later she decided to read the church newsletter for the first time. It turned out to be one of those moments that change your life forever.

There was an ad for a new course that was meant to help people answer the big questions of life: Alpha. She signed up.

The course was good and she enjoyed it, until the prayer time at the weekend camp. Shona took off by herself. She wasn’t ready to be prayed for. She found a quiet spot overlooking the beach at Long Bay, and instead read a poem that Phillip Donnell, a pastor at Windsor Park at the time, had given her. One line in that poem

stood out to her: it talked about the need to dethrone ourselves. As she read that poem through and personalised it, she felt something change inside her, but at that stage had no idea what it was. Realisation dawned over the next few days, and she told Janice she thought she might have become a Christian. Shona was the first person ever to accept Jesus as their saviour through an Alpha course run by Windsor Park.

Life Changes Within a year of that conversation, Shona had joined the staff at Windsor Park as an intern, and worked there for the next two years. She was both married and divorced during that time. Difficult enough at the best of times, I wondered if divorce was a particularly fraught experience for someone working at a church. Not in Shona’s case, apparently. She says the staff, especially then-pastor Brian Winslade, were amazing.

“I heaped more shame on myself really.”

It was a bitter pill to swallow, especially as she and her ex-husband were the only Christians in either of their families. In an attempt to clear her head after they separated, Shona resigned from her job and headed overseas.

Her big OE lasted five weeks. She couldn’t wait to get home. With typical self-deprecating humour, Shona tells me she’s had several attempts at leaving New Zealand, “but it’s never really worked out.”

She returned to Auckland, and started thinking about what to do next.

Equip As it happened, Equip were looking for a support worker. After many years of having friends tell her she should get a job with the mental health support trust, she gave in and applied. Seven years later, she can’t imagine working anywhere else. The warmth in her voice is audible as she talks about the supportive nature of the organisation, the flexibility the work gives her, and the joy of seeing clients taking steps towards independence.

For those of us who have never experienced a severe mental illness, it’s hard to understand how all-consuming it can be; how dislocating and isolating; how much courage is required to undertake everyday tasks, or to engage with so-called “normal” society. Shona says it is like holding her clients’ hope in her hands. Many have been robbed of hope. It’s her job to help them regain that vision in both large ways and small.

This self-confessed tree hugger loves to alert clients to the beauty around them.

Beautiful vistas lift up her soul; for a client, they represent glimmers of hope in a dark and lonely world.

They tackle practical problems too.

She and the client work together, identifying the client’s past strengths, current situation, and future aspirations. Then they create a plan. She tells me about a recent example: a young man she recently took to a café for the first time. Shona describes the process: one day, they drive past the café together. The next, they walk past. Then after that, they’ll stop and think about which table they would sit at. It’s usually one outside; it’s safer. After that, maybe, they’ll go and order that coffee.

The young man she took recently was amazed that people did this regularly.

He enjoyed watching all the people and he loved the cappuccino. Chances are he’ll be back, and along with Shona, be ready to tackle his next challenge.

Through unqualified support, chocolatesprinkled caffeinated drinks and the proximity of others, hope has entered his world.

That coffee was a success, but there are plenty of days that are not. In this job the stakes are enormously high. Shona and her team leader have had the horrendous task of identifying a client’s body after he had been missing for a week. Even on an everyday level, the work can be draining.

“I get peopled out.” she tells me. I ask her how she copes and her advice is unsurprising, in the context of our earlier conversation. Escape into a good book; 7

pray hard; take proper breaks; accept support from others; and take the longer perspective. I suspect that advice is what makes her a great support worker. Proper self-care means she has something to give to others. Also, while driving past cafés to identify safe seats and wrangling with WINZ on behalf of her clients, she can see how small steps contribute to the greater goal: an independent life for a person God loves.

Alpha Ministry The theme of exchanging near sight for a longer vision has followed her outside of work too. Shona’s connection with Alpha has continued ever since that first course back in 1997. She was back as a helper on the second course, and then as a leader just months later. Once again, the ministry session of the weekend camp drove her outside to seek solace. Only a new Christian herself, the idea of asking others if they wanted to accept Jesus was petrifying. (As an aside, I can assure Shona that it’s not only new Christians who feel overwhelmed in that situation.) Once again though, the beauty of Long Bay came to the rescue.

“I felt strength and covering from God,” she says. “I realised it wasn’t me, but God working through me.” She returned to the meeting with the feeling she was in exactly the right place.

That impression stayed with her, especially when she was praying for someone, or baptising one of the many other people who have come to faith through Windsor Park’s Alpha courses. But it didn’t stop there. Soon she was asked to become part of the wider organisation -- Alpha New Zealand. In recent years, that perspective has been extended even further: Shona is now part of the Global Alpha team.

India In one of life’s delicious ironies, Shona tells me that a few months after she start-

ed attending church, she made a bargain with God. “I told him that I might become a Christian, but he’d better not make me be a missionary to India or anything.”

It seems God may have refused to accept that bargain. Shona’s now preparing for her fourth trip to India. And she can’t wait.

“I leave a piece of my heart in India every time.”

On her first visit, she fell in love with the vibrancy, the colour, and the country itself.

Expecting to be horrified by the poverty, Shona instead found herself responding to the dignity of the people, even in squalid situations. She particularly remembers the street dwellers sweeping their portion of the street each day, placing all the rubbish in a big pile ready for collection, whenever that might be. She also dreams of meeting a little girl again, one she met on a later trip. They met at a crusade, where Shona was given the place of honour, right by the loudspeaker. Through the deafening sound of one song being played over and over again, the little girl snuck in beside her and copied whatever she did. That little girl won Shona’s heart, much like India itself. The country she once thought had to be the worst place on earth has become a second home to her. As for the things she was most afraid of -- the heat, the overcrowding, the noise and the smells – they don’t bother her a bit.

“In fact, I feel lonely when I get back home. It’s like there’s too much personal space!”

By the end of our discussion, it’s clear I’m going to have trouble with the word limit on this article. I haven’t got room to tell you about Shona’s favourite activity – boogie boarding in the Coromandel – or her dream of competing in a dog sled race in Alaska. Or, for that matter, her current challenge: she and her niece are learning to paddle board.

Shona lives a rich life; a life that is lived for others but also built on a solid founda-

tion of rest, laughter and play. Shona’s life keeps circling back to the same theme: taking her eyes off the immediate and looking instead into the distance, searching for the people who are lost and marginalised.

I can think of someone else who had the same idea.

October Trip In October Shona will travel to India with fellow Equip staff members Steve Martin and Anelle Brits, along with Mike and Jo Little from Windsor Park. Generously, Equip offers a week’s paid missions leave for team leaders. They will visit local leaders in the Punjab region, hold Alpha training in Haryana, and then head to Himachal Pradesh to visit the Alpha area manager. Rather than running the courses directly, they train local leaders to run their own.

They provide teaching resources and link new leaders with the local Alpha area manager for future assistance. In India, Alpha courses often result in the establishment of a new church. In Karnal they will also visit the church-run orphanage and school for the Dalit people. The Dalits (formerly called “untouchables”) are of such low caste that their births are not even registered; traditionally, they can only take the lowest jobs and education is an impossible dream. The church in Karnal is working to change that.

Why does Global Alpha succeed in India? I ask Shona. By rights, it probably shouldn’t. After all, this programme – developed in England for a relatively wealthy Western audience – is being delivered to mainly impoverished people in an Eastern country where the British were once the hated oppressor. Shona’s answer centres on the essence of Alpha: a message of salvation that can transcend cultural and material barriers. That, and the fact that Indian people do hospitality, fellowship and teaching well. Food, learning and friendship are universal gifts.

LaW and Life: “nothing Comes easy�

Julie Belding talks to Clayton kimpton

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layton Kimpton was born in Stoke, near Nelson. where his father was the pastor of a Baptist church. A typical preacher’s kid, Clayton and his three siblings (he was the second eldest) moved around a lot during their childhood. His Dad served churches in Stoke, Raumati, and finally Northcote, after spending ten years in Auckland and Sydney with Underground Evangelism.

“We always had people in our house,” he says. “It was not a private upbringing.

But it made me a people person.

As a preacher’s kid you get to see both the good sides and the negative sides of Christian community. It’s probably made me a bit pragmatic about both my expectations and my understanding of churches and people.”

Clayton committed his life to Christ at the age of seven, during a family camp at Ngaruawahia. His father was away at the time, and he still has the aerogramme he wrote to his Dad. His father kept it and eventually gave it back to him.

“I was baptised when I was about fifteen,” he says, “but I also recall a time at university when I was about eighteen or nineteen, when I really had to challenge myself with the question, ‘Is being a Christian just part of my culture and my upbringing, or is it something for me to grasp personally?’ So in a way it’s been a process as well as a decision.”

Although he went to several different primary schools, there was just one high school – in Sydney. Then he came back to Auckland for university studies, graduating in Law in 1987.

Family life He met his wife, Michelle, early after returning to NZ, through some Aucklandwide youth events. He was at Northcote at the time, but she was going to Murrays Bay Baptist.

“That was my main reason for going to Murrays Bay,” says Clayton candidly. “But there also comes a point when you don’t really want your father as your pastor, so I was ready for a change.”

They married in 1988 and now have three children, Amy (21), Joshua (20) and Taylor (18). All three children have gone to university, and Joshua and Taylor are still there, as law students.

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“The dream of my life is that they all marry Christian partners,” says their proud father.

He identifies his spiritual gifts as leadership, administration and discernment.

Currently he is an elder at Windsor Park Baptist, and he and Michelle lead a young adults’ home group for 19-22 year olds.

Why law?

For his own part, there was nothing that drove Clayton to study law in particular.

He says he initially chose it because he didn’t want to be an accountant, but his real love was history and performance, and in his first year he majored in history.

He says if he wasn’t a lawyer he’d love to have been an historian or archaeologist.

Law grew on him, however.

“As I began to understand what it was about, I was attracted to the opportunity to be able to think on my feet and persuade people in terms of ideas,” he says. “This comes up in both court work and negotiation.”

He has now been involved in the profession for a quarter of a century. He says law is “like an apprenticeship where you start as a grad and you move up the stages until you become a partner.”

He has served in the areas of litigation and advocacy, but in the last decade has worked more in the leadership and management area of large law firms in addition to representing key clients. Today he

“As a preacher’s kid you get to see both the good sides and the negative sides of Christian community.

It’s probably made me a bit pragmatic about both my expectations and my understanding of churches and people.” is the chief executive partner of Kensington Swan, which involves managing and leading a multi-million dollar business and supervising a senior leadership team.

His day involves many meetings, from bankers to staff to IT people to ministers of the Crown, and clients. He also continues his legal practice.

“That may sound mundane,” he says, “but at times I have to pinch myself.

My career has led me to into amazing

Taylor, Josh, Michelle, Amy and Clayton.

situations with some incredible people, and allowed me to travel the world, proudly representing both New Zealand and my business.”

Christian witness After he was admitted to the bar, Clayton was challenged to think, as a Christian what specific thing he could do that would engage his faith. In about 1996, together with Rev Ian Brown (general secretary of the Baptist Union) and Rev Brian Winslade Clayton set up Resolve, a Christian service for dispute resolution, which provides a process for handling church conflict in a manner that glorifies God. This was a significant interest for Clayton.

“As a Christian lawyer I had often been asked to advise people on church membership disputes or pastoral disputes and found they were going to the courts for resolution rather than resolving them in a biblical way,” he explains. “Resolve is a way for solving disputes between Christians that also honours God, and it was

feature

exciting for me to be able to use my skills in that way.”

He trained in the US with an organisation called Peacemaker Ministries, and for ten years served in the Resolve ministry, to the point where it was established and self-sustaining. It is now available to other denominations as well. Today Resolve is under the umbrella of Vision Network and Clayton still supports it, although he is no longer actively involved.

He also serves on a number of other charitable and professional boards (including Mercy Ships NZ and the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Law Society) where he has been able to bring his networks, experience in governance, and understanding of the law to the board table.

Clearly Clayton loves his job. He enjoys solving problems and looking ahead to see how various goals may be fulfilled.

“I was taught long ago that with difficult issues, if you are feel like you wished you didn’t have to deal with them, then you’re

probably the right person to handle them.

Some parts of your work should be hard, and good leader is prepared to do the hard work as well as the fun stuff.

As with most jobs, the hardest aspect is dealing with people.

“People are the best and the worst part.

Resilience is important. It’s also important to decide what is the right thing to do, and to follow through that course of action despite the disagreement of others. You can’t lose your nerve.”

Does anything irk him?

“People who are unwilling to take responsibility for things within their control, and who blame others. People who can only spot a problem. But I don’t fly off the handle easily. It would take quite a bit to enrage me.”

Reflections Not surprisingly, Clayton works long hours. He leaves home before seven and on a normal day works for ten to twelve hours. He also travels a lot, to Asia,

Australia, the Middle East and Wellington, maintaining relationships with clients and growing the business. But his PA does her best to ensure he is home for one or two nights a week.

How does he react to lawyer jokes?

“You become inured to them. It’s funny how everyone has a lawyer joke, but they all seem to want their kids to be one.

One thing about law is that many in the Christian community expect your services free of charge. But if it was a builder constructing your house you wouldn’t think of asking him to work for nothing.

I had to learn early on to make it clear that this was my livelihood, and you tend to pay for what you get. When you are charging a fee, people take things a little more seriously.”

I asked him his secret of time management. There was a weighty pause.

“It’s the biggest challenge out there,” he admits. “I have a fantastic team working with me, I have fairly high expectations of everyone around me, plus I have an understanding family. But I can’t say I’m the best time manager. I have to remind myself that going into work an hour earlier and staying an hour later doesn’t actually get anything more done.”

He goes to the gym most mornings “but not as regularly as I ought” and says he needs to keep fitter.

Every three or four months he reviews what he is doing and decides whether it’s important that he do this task or that, or whether he could assign it to somebody else.

“One thing Martyn Norrie encouraged me to do many years ago was to schedule in my holidays at the beginning of each year. These are important, and if I schedule them in, they can’t get eaten away. I look forward to those times when I can switch off. I love to travel and I love to fish when we’re on holiday.”

His advice to a young person who was thinking of studying law?

“Law is a great degree to do for a range of reasons, although it’s an area in which it has become harder and harder to get a job. I do mentor a number of graduates and students coming through law school and let them know what is involved in the profession. I advise them to seek out a job in a larger law firm initially where they get excellent training and preparation.

“And I remind them they will need to work hard. Nothing comes easy.”

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Š deVin Hart

you Can do anything‌ With god iain Litterick talks to marelize Bester

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he smiling face of Marelize Bester greets many families on a Sunday morning, when they attend WindsorKIDS. Marelize and husband Friedel and daughter Kayla call Windsor Park home, and see our community as their family. However, the journey to here from South Africa was not easy.

BACkgrOuNd Both Marelize and her husband grew up in the North West province of South Africa, near the Botswana border.

Marelize felt she had little experience of apartheid, although there was segregation. Her family had always taught inclusion and equality as important values.

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staff Her father was an engineer, working most of the time. As the youngest of three girls, Marelize’s earliest memories of her mother were that she was always sick. She was diagnosed with Carcinoid Syndrome, and for fifteen years lived with this progressively debilitating disease until she died when Marelize was twenty-one.

Yet her mother was always positive and inspiring to her children and even to their friends. She was constantly telling Marelize, “You can do anything.”

Marelize went to Johannesburg to do a Bachelor of Communication and loved every second of it, embracing life and all it had to offer. Even before finishing her degree, she started work in the corporate world. Completing her degree part-time, she had roles in corporate communication, CAD (Computer Aided Design), marketing and project management.

Marelize became disillusioned with some of the negative aspects of corporate life, however, especially the “quality and type of man” she encountered. In desperation she declared to the Lord she would rather have no man than the ones entering and leaving her life.

A week later she met Friedel, her future husband.

She laughs and says they are “chalk and cheese” – a combination that shouldn’t work but just does.

Friedel has spent most of his working life in prison (working not residing!) An expert dog handler, he has worked in narcotics and investigations.

After marriage they lived in Pretoria and commuted to Johannesburg for work.

Emigration Marelize says they had never talked about leaving South Africa, but circumstances conspired against them.

“Doing anything in South Africa was stressful. It felt like you had to fight for everything, and there was the everpresent corruption.”

They were trying to sell their house and buy another, and the constant stress and hassles began to tell.

Marelize had a work colleague, Rene, who announced unexpectedly that she was emigrating to New Zealand. This played on her mind, until one day in exasperation, she exclaimed, “Why don’t we move to New Zealand?”

Since her friend Rene had gone to work for a New Zealand immigration consultant, they dealt with her because she was trusted. They sold almost everything they

owned and came to New Zealand on a three-month holiday visa.

“It was a liberating but terrifying feeling – all at the same time,” she says.

Although they had been informed otherwise, Friedel was told he could not apply for a position with the Prison Service without New Zealand residency.

In the meantime Marelize applied for a position at Tower, as a project administrator.

After being in the country for three weeks, and only her first interview, she got the job.

Tower assisted both of them to apply for work permits. A few months later they were granted residency.

“That was definitely God’s hand at work,” smiles Marelize, “Getting residency so quickly is definitely not normal.”

Meanwhile Friedel took what jobs he could while waiting for an opening with the NZ Corrections Department.

“I was determined To be straight up, to not embellish anything, and admit my weaknesses.”

Family Even before coming to New Zealand, planning a family had been on their agenda, but a series of complications, including endometriosis, had made it difficult – basically impossible.

To make matters worse, after a series of operations Marelize contracted a pelvic bone infection which was diagnosed a week before they were due to leave for New Zealand. Antibiotics were prescribed, but it was doubtful that Marelize would be able to travel. Frantic prayers were offered, and medical clearance was given just a couple of days before they had to leave.

After being in New Zealand a while, the infection returned. This time they were at Windsor Park, and after some more prayer, the problem went away.

They were surprised – and a little shocked – to become eligible for the statefunded IVF program. But again, just before the process was to begin, the infection returned. Marelize was utterly devastated.

She had never felt more alone.

She found herself at Windsor Park at a mid-week service. Members of the prayer team prayed for her and laid hands on her, praying in tongues for both her and Friedel.

A few weeks later Friedel was offered a job with the NZ Corrections Department,

and a short time after that Marelize discovered she was pregnant.

Friedel’s job was in Spring Hill, however, in the Waikato. So they decided to move south.

After a “perfect pregnancy” their daughter Kayla was born.

Then, as Marelise puts it, their world “collapsed around us.”

Along with the harsh reality of no family or church support, Marelize suffered nerve damage in her hands during the birth, and found it painful and difficult just to hold Kayla. She couldn’t breastfeed, and found the pressure to do so hard to bear. Postnatal depression compounded their woes.

In a selfless decision, Friedel decided the best thing for Marelize was to return to the North Shore, and to Windsor Park. He would continue to commute each day, for over a year, until a position at Paremoremo became available.

A New Role With her maternity leave drawing to a close, Marelize prayed about returning to work. She had always dreamed about working for a company that wasn’t afraid to advertise its faith. A position was advertised at Windsor Park for an administration role at WindsorKIDS. Despite having no work experience with ministry or a church, she applied.

“I was determined to be straight up, to not embellish anything, and admit my weaknesses,” she says.

To her surprise she got an interview, but left feeling she had blown it. Feeling strongly that God had directed her to apply, she vowed not to look for another job, despite the maternity leave being nearly over, until she heard back. The day after her leave expired, she was offered the position.

Marelize loved working for the church, although in the early days she found it hard. Her hands were still sore and the baby blues were still there. But Windsor Park was supportive and helped her through.

Now, after almost two years, her role has evolved. She is now working in creative ministries as well, designing many of the flyers and advertising we see around church and on the screens in the auditorium. In fact, the Small Fries logo and all its marketing were her design. Another dream of “drawing pictures for a living” has come to be.

As her mother had said, “You can do anything.” But perhaps now we add “with God.” 13

The Dream Centre

I

photos by asher pilbrow

n the first half of July, seventeen people from the Windsor Park faith community – ten teenagers and five adults – spent seventeen days in southern California. They went to help out at the Dream Centre, a volunteer-driven organization that seeks to be the hands and feet of Jesus in downtown Los Angeles. The Centre was founded in 1994 and currently serves over 40,000 people each month. The purpose of the trip was to expose Windsor young people to a range of experiences that would challenge them and grow them as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Dream Center’s services and programs include residential rehabilitation programs for teens and adults, a shelter for victims of human trafficking, a transitional shelter for homeless families, mobile hunger relief and medical programs, and a foster care intervention outreach that works closely with LA County’s Department of Children and

14

Family Services (DCFS). The idea is to keep families intact by delivering the required furnishings, clothing and food to assure their homes meet DCFS standards.

Programs such as adult basic education, job skills training, and life skills counseling were also available.

Ben Matthewson, for whom it was a second trip, said the intense experience was everything he had hoped it would be.

“Our young people saw the stark contrast between rich and poor, they saw some of the atrocities of homelessness, gangs, prostitution and human trafficking,” he said. “It broke their hearts, and many tears were shed.”

The Centre where they all stayed was a building the size of North Shore Hospital, with 700 people currently living in it, including 200 interns. One level of the building was dedicated to human trafficking recovery – the largest unit of its kind in the USA, with 80 beds. Another floor was dedicated to helping homeless kids get off the streets. An entire floor was dedicated to short-term mission groups, like the WPBC team, with a hundred people living and serving at any one time.

The WPBC team rose at six each morning and were busy for the next seventeen hours. They did street evangelism, handed out food, prayed with people on the street, talked to the homeless, worked in the kitchen, loaded the food truck, and helped to distribute food in some of the poorer neighbourhoods. They visited a housing

project and offered to serve the residents in any way that was needed. Ben said the Dream Centre had a good name in the area and elicited a positive response from the people they visited.

“Our challenge was coming face to face with human brokenness and having to understand how to deal with it,” said Ben. “Some of our people came back shattered.

But I just loved seeing God at work in the team and seeing how they processed confronting issues that enabled their faith to grow. By the end of the trip they had a new understanding of God and church.”

At WPBC there will be a debrief with the team on Sunday 9 September in the 6:30 service.

LA Exposure

15

Elle at right

God’s Hands and Feet

Elle Treweek writes of her YWAM experience

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mission

D

uring my gap year in 2011 I spent a long time praying about what I could do and where I could go for my first trip overseas. Proverbs 30:7 – 9 stuck with me “…

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread…”

I told God I didn’t mind where he sent me -- I just wanted to go overseas and be his hands and feet. But I needed money for that, and he had to provide it. So I was blessed with work throughout the year, although at times I didn’t feel that way. I worked odd hours on low wages, mostly waiting on people. But God was teaching me greater lessons than just provision. I ended the year with just the right amount of money (not too much, not too little) to go on a five-month YWAM Discipleship Training School, even though I’d only found out about YWAM the week I applied!

YWAM is an international, non-denominational Christian organization. They offer five-month Discipleship Training Schools that lead on to two-month mission trips.

One of the reasons DTS appeals to many students is that you can travel somewhere to do your study, and then travel somewhere else to do your “outreach.”’ It’s a chance to go overseas and meet people from all over the world who have come together with a heart to serve God. Since it was my first time to leave home, and then New Zealand, I chose to do my DTS in Tauranga. With 25 other students (and another ten staff) we lived in community, sleeping in dorms, eating together, worshipping together, and doing lectures and chores together. Our faith was challenged by different speakers who came weekly to talk on different topics, and still further as we discussed the topics among ourselves. We all signed up to a “stream” which meant we also had afternoon classes-- Compassion, Justice, Medical or Devoted. I was in the Compassion stream, although I also had a medical class and chose to attend justice classes. Between the lectures and streams, we all came away feeling pretty wrecked. But we each had a mentor to process things with, and were encouraged to have daily solitude with God.

Our streams became our outreach groups. Through prayer, each group found out where they were heading for their seven-week mission trip and what they would do there. For my outreach I had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines and Thailand, with a focus on orphans and refugees.

In the Philippines I stayed at the Ruel Foundation for three weeks. This was an orphanage for children who were malnourished, abandoned or in crisis. It also offered free medical aid to those in need.

Half my team and I stayed there, working shifts in the orphanage and loving these beautiful Filipino children as best as we could. While there we saw an adoption, as well as an increase from fifteen to twentyone kids. The other half of our team went south to Mindoro Island to do a medical outreach, joining up with a couple of other international teams.

In Thailand we started with a prayer walk through Bangkok before heading north on a twelve-hour bus ride to Chiang Rai, where we stayed at the Home of the Open Heart. This was an institution for AIDS orphans, where we ran a Bible study in the girls’ home, did practical work on the property (in 40 degree heat and humidity) and took time to intercede and pray over the ministry and land.

The last part of our outreach was spent with the Lahu community, a refugee group in the Chiang Mai region. We went into a couple of hillside villages with the Lahu Baptist Convention to lead church services, worship, perform our skits, and show Christian love to people in two villages.

“At our school we had learned that God’s fingerprints were everywhere, in every culture, and I believe we got to see some of his generous character through the people we met. “

Even though we’d gone in expecting to bless the people, in both countries I felt more blessed by the communities we stayed with. We were overwhelmed by how much these people whom we barely knew would offer us, whether it was out of their wealth or dearth. At our school we had learned that God’s fingerprints were everywhere, in every culture, and I believe we got to see some of his generous character through the people we met.

The DTS experience challenged me and exposed me to a lot. It changed the way I look at God, the world, money and freedom. I’ve come back with the goal of studying nursing at AUT next year (something I’d not even considered before) so that I can show practical compassion to children and people anywhere in the world, wherever God may call me.

Don’t hesitate to contact me e.treweek@gmail.com if you’d like to know more about this lifechanging experience called DTS.

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Giving God Room Pam Bedwell talks to Jo Little

18

© Pam Bedwell

“I

t’s what I want to be but how can I get there?” is a question that has followed Jo Little everywhere – alongside the thought, “I’ll never be able to do that!” Fortunately God is forever the enabler.

Jo told me a story about a crowd who was greatly irritated when a boy snuck onstage and began playing “Chopsticks,” totally ruining the mood left behind by a great pianist. When the pianist realized what was happening he strode back to the piano and sat down next to the boy.

“Keep going,” he whispered.

“Don’t quit.”

Tears are now glistening in Jo’s eyes because she knows the story is about her too. For as the child continued to play his ragged “Chopsticks,” the master added a beautiful melody. God’s melody in Jo’s life is beautiful too. And that’s how she likes things.

ministry

“If you’ve got only a little bit to give, God just makes it greater so long as you don’t try to take it over yourself,” she says.

And with that, the seemingly impossible becomes possible.

It all began thirteen years ago, when Mike and Jo’s fourteen-year-old daughter Vicki became a Christian and began praying for her parents. She followed up by inviting them to an Alpha dinner. They went, but with questions, challenges and scepticism towards all of Alpha’s claims regarding Jesus Christ. By the time of the Holy Spirit weekend, however, they had run out of questions and realized there was really something to all of this. Mike and Jo Little found God personally and have been involved in the Alpha ministry ever since, impressed with its ability as an outreach tool. Even if only a few people show up to Windsor Park’s Alpha course they will not cancel, for God is in the few.

Now, as part of Global Alpha, Jo is getting ready for her second trip to India.

“Talk about the black hole of Calcutta,” she says, “I never thought I’d get used to India’s squat toilets – and the train was the worst.”

But none of the cultural differences matter. They go to encourage and support the local pastors doing Alpha.

Prison ministry One of the biggest lessons Jo has learned is to stop being a people pleaser and just please God. Nowhere has this been more evident than in prison. The first time she went to visit was with a small group of women from Sycamore Tree. She didn’t know who was more scared – them or the inmates – until one over-exuberant lady broke the ice by bubbling, “Hi, my name is...”

Subsequently this led to more involvement with Windsor Park prison ministry and taking Alpha to the men at Pareremoremo.

“All we’re doing is supporting,” she insists. “The little we can do is appreciated so much. There are guys there now who are ministering to their fellow inmates. It’s a really different world, but a privilege to be part of.”

“Unseen are the connections both [nurses] are making to families with specific needs within their homes...

These are our church families in need, sometimes with difficult family situations, budgeting difficulties, sickness, or even imminent death.”

Puzzle pieces continue to click into place as God continues to make the seemingly impossible possible. The staff at Pareremoremo heard that Jo was a trained hospital nurse and was wondering where her experience might fit in. She had a dream and was wondering how it would materialize. The staff offered her a casual contract and as Jo prayed, a sense of peace came over her. She accepted the post as prison nurse.

“By going into prison my faith was strengthened on many occasions,” she says.

A Church Nurse Jo dreams of reaching people holistically.

Back in 2007 she read a little book about health as a ministry. But intrigued as she was, Jo couldn’t see how she could fit that into Windsor Park. Again the question: “It’s what I want to be but how can I get there?”

God’s simple response was, “Joanne, you don’t have to do it,” reminding her it was he who made all things possible.

Through her job as a prison nurse Jo received valuable experience in primary health care. This was followed by the opening of a part-time position as a practice nurse in Browns Bay, giving her even more useful experience.

When the prison contract ended after two years it freed Jo to pursue opportunities that were beginning to arise at Windsor Park.

Windsor Park now has two community church nurses. Jo is available on Tuesdays when Mainly Mums meet and Shirley Smith is available on the days of mainly music. Since mothers gravitate towards Cafe Windsor, as do many others, this 19

© Pam Bedwell

is where Jo makes herself available for questions, for lending a listening ear, for offering information and for making outside services known, as well as conducting blood pressure checks. Confidentiality and prayer support are paramount. But Jo sees herself as just a small component of Windsor Park’s church care ministry.

“Unseen are the connections both [nurses] are making to families with specific needs within their homes. This takes the form of regular visits, assessing needs, and providing support, love and prayer. These are our church families in need, sometimes with difficult family situations, budgeting difficulties, sickness, or even imminent death.”

Jo never knows what a Tuesday will hold. Mums are beginning to accept her role more, and are coming with their questions. The elderly come too.

Exercise class Not content to rest there, Jo felt it was important to address the other need of the body – fitness. To that end she co-founded Born Again Bodies with Gary Syme, a trained exercise instructor and retired pharmacist with a passion for exercises for older adults. His programme uses small hand weights and exercises to strengthen muscles, improve balance and promote wellbeing. Hour-long classes run every Thursday morning at 10.30 in the Kauri

Room. Jo wants people to know that as we age we need to keep up with some form of exercise because as each year passes we lose more and more muscle mass.

She says the class helps strengthen those muscles and promotes overall good health.

It also includes plenty of fun and laughter.

At one time she wouldn’t have believed there would be church nurses in her own faith community, but God made it all possible. She dreams that Windsor Park might eventually become a full medical centre – evolving as Equip has done -becoming a hub for spiritual, mental and physical wellbeing.

“Give God room,” Jo says. “You never know what will happen.”

Body and Soul

Š Belinda Bradley

David Knell talks to Andrew and Christine Smith

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feature

Y

ou could say that between them, Andrew and Christine Smith cater for the complete person.

Andrew has been involved in missions for many years. Christine started off working alongside Andrew, but now has her own ministry promoting healthy living through raw foods.

Andrew, a soft-spoken man with a warm smile, grew into the Christian faith at Wanganui East Baptist Church.

“It was all I ever knew” he says.

Serving the Lord just seemed a natural thing to do, so after completing Bible College in the 1980s, he got a degree in accounting and finance and went to work for SIM in office administration. For the last ten years Andrew has moved on to computers and IT, using his accounting and management skills for this worldwide organisation.

An important part of his responsibilities is intranet security for email systems.

What is SIM? SIM is an interdenominational missions agency that spans Africa, Asia and South America. Its origins go back to pioneer days, when missions were formed by individuals or churches committed to sharing the good news of God’s redeeming love to those in far-off countries.

Originally known as the Sudan Interior Mission, SIM was founded in 1893 by Canadians Walter Gowans, Roland Bingham and American Thomas Kent. The three had a vision to reach the 60 million of subSaharan Africa, but it proved to be a fatal attraction. All three succumbed to malaria, but not before a base was established 500 miles inland at Patigi in 1902. This was the beginning of SIM in Africa.

Meanwhile, in Asia there was the Ceylon and India General Mission, founded in 1892, and the Poona and Indian Village Mission. In South America, New Zealanders George Allen and Mary Stirling founded the Bolivian Indian Mission in 1907, and two years later, as newly-weds, arrived in Bolivia to work with the Quechua Indians.

These and many more smaller groups joined together in the 1980s to form the “Society for International Ministries,” 22

which later underwent yet another name change to “Serving In Mission.”

Through service in missions overseas, SIM New Zealand provides opportunities for a new generation of missionaries.

These work with multicultural teams that are church centred and involved in such areas as poverty, education, faith and community.

Where do you want to go? Under Africa and Europe thirty possibilities are listed; under South America nine, and under Asia-Pacific eight.

The Smith family Christine, like Andrew, grew into the Christian faith, her grandparents being members of Murrays Bay Baptist Church.

Christine and Andrew met at Bible College in 1984 and were married at Glenfield Baptist Church.

The couple have five children: Nathan, 25, Sarah 23, Mary-Anne 20, David 16 and Janey 13. All the children have been home-schooled, something Christine describes as “a lifestyle that suits us.”

Evidently it did, because the first two have been through university, and Mary-Anne is now at Auckland Uni. Andrew’s work entails four weeks of travel a year, and he likes to take one of the children with him.

Date and Nut Rolls 1 packet pitted dates 1 cup almonds 2 tablespoons cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Scant water (you can use any water left that the dates were soaked in) Optional – ½ cup dried plums or sour cherries or dried apricots Desiccated coconut and cocoa powder for rolling 1. Moisten dates and leave in bowl for 30 minutes or overnight. Drain.

2. Grind dates, nuts, vanilla and cocoa in food processor. If mixture is too dry, add more water. If too wet add more nuts or a small handful of coconut.

3. Add optional dried fruit.

Process to mix.

4. Roll into small balls and roll in coconut or cocoa powder. Keep in fridge or freezer.

“It really broadens their education” says Andrew. Nathan has been to Ethiopia, Sarah to the Philippines, and Mary-Anne to Panama. David’s turn is coming up soon with a trip planned to Ethiopia in November.

Raw eating It was Sarah that got her mother enthusiastic about the benefits of raw food.

Christine tells the story: “My eldest daughter suggested I support her on a two week raw diet as a detox.

That seemed do-able. Two weeks isn’t too long and it would be easy in the summer.

Months later we’re still “raw.” I love the way I feel – sort of fresh and cool. My skin has improved, my nails are stronger and I’ve have lost weight. I haven’t been this size since I was married. It was weight loss the easy way. No points to count, no food to weigh and I am never hungry. Weight loss was not my goal, but it became a pleasant result of my pursuit of wanting to be even more healthy than I was, even though I was already organic.”

It certainly shows in Christine’s youthful face and sparkling eyes.

At first Christine thought the raw food idea was way too weird, but came to realise that health and good food are a Christian birthright. How did God create food to feed and sustain our bodies and minds? Christine says “It is a bit like meditation. The New Agers have hi-jacked something Christian. The difference is, they tell you to empty your mind, whereas the Scriptures tell us to think on good things”.

Christine is far from fanatical, however, and believes in a balanced lifestyle. She cooks for the family every night, and eats meat. The difference is that she avoids processed foods and eats raw foods whenever possible. One of Christine’s favourite recipes is date and nut rolls- a guilt-free, yummy snack, especially good when the sugar cravings hit.

Consultancy Christine considers herself a consultant/ coach and is keen to help people into their own better lifestyle. She takes workshops in raw food preparation, has a newsletter, and has set up a website GoMoreRaw. There one finds articles and advice, testimonials and recipes, including a complete seven-day programme.

© Belinda Bradley

Jackie Thomson from Northcross says, “Her newsletter is a great read, full of tips and hints, and she makes every effort to show you how to make the raw lifestyle obtainable and sustainable, while acknowledging that everyone is unique and has individual requirements for optimal health.”

Not only has Christine testimonials of weight loss and general wellbeing, but of relief from coeliac disease (sensitivity to gluten) and type 2 diabetes.

Christine loves working with women and families and is moving into this area as a

“It is a bit like meditation.

The New Agers have hi-jacked something Christian. The difference is, they tell you to empty your mind, whereas the Scriptures tell us to think on good things”.

ministry. When asked “What do I do about my husband/child/teenager? They won’t eat raw food,” Christine says, “Concentrate on your own health, if the rest of the family aren’t interested, and become a walking advertisement. Try making the easier, tasty raw alternatives more available and processed food less available, and do it bit by bit. Your aim is to create willing eaters.”

When asked what her favourite food was, the reply was immediate - chocolate!

Andrew prefers “pork with plenty of crackling.” Which only goes to prove that man cannot live on bread alone.

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T

he creator of these pieces, Bryant Judd, started painting ten years ago. He is selftaught, but his father and grandmother were also artists. He gets inspiration from photographs, either taken by himself or by friends and family. They are of scenes from all around the world.

Bryant mainly uses acrylics in his paintings, and uses realistic foregrounds and large, bright skies. He takes advantage of artistic licence, but also creates amazing, realistic results.

He says that his paintings are special to him. He enjoys his artwork, and if he were to stop selling paintings, he would have a house full of art to get enjoyment from. pHotos taKen By danielle MacKay.

24

Theosart

25

Q&A

ask grant!

With senior pastor grant harris gOT A queSTION fOr grANT? Write in (grant.harris@windsorpark.org.nz) and get your question answered in the next issue of Lift.

Q: I’ve really been enjoying the different series this year. How do you guys come up with what the series will look like?

If I were to first mention the spiritual side, we had an “epiphany,” a “revelation,” a “good idea” when we had a staff retreat early in 2011. I invited Tim Keel (then a lecturer at Laidlaw College but now returned to be senior pastor at Jacobs Well Church in Kansas City) to speak about his experience in planning for his church.

Out of that came some amazing things that I believe God has led us as a team in. Practically, it’s quite a long story, but we’re trying to put some (loose) structure around the liturgical church calendar, and we’ve also developed a list of filters to

ensure that over a five-year period we’ve covered a range of criteria that we think is important for our community. So it’s fair to say we’re already working on 2013 and 2014 with some ideas floating around for 2015! We do this in a variety of collaborative ways, and then progressively work through the detail. It’s been a wonderfully enriching way to plan, as historically all of this has been individually. Doing it together has its moments and creates some great discussions, but we think ultimately it has significant benefits for the wider faith communities.

Q: Exactly what does a pastor do during the week?

Ha! I love this question. It’s one that

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most people think, but only a few people have the courage to ask! The answer is … stuff! While most people only see a pastor “working” on a Sunday, I have always related being a pastor to being self-employed, i. e. it’s incredibly hard to turn off the work button. It really depends on what type of pastoral role we’re in.

My role at Windsor Park is the busiest job I’ve ever had (Am I looking for sympathy?

Probably! )Pastoral roles are people roles.

I spend a lot of time managing staff and meeting with key volunteers. Obviously my role also oversees our entire operation so it has a lot of management functions within it. Preparing for Sundays is also a significant part of my week and something I’m always thinking about – my best sermons are preached in the shower or while mowing the lawns. Probably the key part of most pastoral roles is their relationship to volunteers – recruiting, equipping, and caring for them. Windsor Park is what it is because I believe we have great pastors but even greater volunteers. Yeah, I might be greasing but it’s the truth.

Q: What do you do to relax?

What’s with the personal questions this time? I don’t mind though, because this is the type of question everyone needs to answer as I believe keeping a healthy work/ life balance is so important. Personally, I often feel I struggle with this. It’s easy to sometimes be physically at home but mentally at the office. What do I do? I’ve always worked hard to be involved in our kid’s lives (who are now 18, 17, 14 and 12) and so coaching their sports teams and supporting their other activities is important to me. Jo and I also prioritise family breaks, so I’ll work pretty hard during term time but I always take a week off in the school holidays with the kids. As chaplain to the NZ Breakers basketball team this also provides me with some personal ministry opportunities, and a great view of the basketball which I love. Outside of those things, we enjoy time together on the water and Jo comes from a gardening family so my fingers get in the soil a bit – at her expert direction. And let’s be honest, God’s provided an amazing country to hang out in, with some cool cafes and restaurants where temptation abounds!

Season of hope, of jonquils at their best, Pink blossoms, tulips, gloriously on show, Reviving souls becalmed by winter’s rest, Inspiring us, like flowers, again to grow, Not looking back but eager to be blessed. © Jeff Kubina flickr.com

God, may we seek afresh Your heart to know.

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– Julie Belding