Lift Issue 12 Spring 2013

ISSUE 12: SPRING 2013 PLEASE MAKE A GOLD COIN DONATION

HUMBLE SAINT Louis Tousain and his meaningful mission

LIFE & PROPHESY Dorothy Andreassend

A KNIGHT’S JOURNEY Iain Litterick talks to Tony Knight

SOWING SEEDS FOR CHANGE

Gareth Sands, making a difference at Mt Eden Corrections Centre

FROM THE SENIOR PASTOR

I recently returned from a mission/exposure trip to Kolkata, India, a place I have visited several times over recent years. We were a team of six (including my wife Jo and our eldest daughter) and I was the only one who had visited that vast city of noise and diversity. At best guess there are 18 million people in the area, most living in what we would describe as less than satisfactory conditions.

Seeing a group of people from the North Shore exposed to something well outside their comfort zone was an interesting experience and the effect of this type of trip works itself out over time as our worldviews are mostly determined by reflection and by looking back.

During the week after returning I read this quote from American author Annie Dillard: “The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit

requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet.”

It’s the kind of quote you need to read slowly several times – so do that now before reading on! If we’re honest with ourselves the majority worldview that we live with relates to the first sentence. In our society success – however we define that – relies upon increasing wealth, bigger houses, faster technology, promotion and self-advancement. In essence it’s an insatiable desire for progress that never stops and never fulfills.

Unfortunately, most countries in the world are adopting this western mindset and we saw that in Kolkata. The second sentence requires some prolonged reflection and relates strongly to a relationship with God that goes against the direction of our society. The life of the spirit means becoming comfortable with who we are, whose we are, and finding contentment in our place in the world despite our circumstances, knowing there is a significance to our lives that is greater than anything the world might ascribe to them.

As the psalmist wrote many years ago after

hearing God say these words to him (Psalm 46:10), “Be still, and know that I am God.” I wonder how much time we spend reflecting on the spirit, hearing the words of God that ultimately will change us in ways we haven’t imagined. What I love about the stories we read in LIFT is that those who are interviewed often have to think about their lives in ways they may not have thought about them before – reflection, stillness, contemplating the journeys that God has led them on and the effect those journeys have had on their lives.

I want to encourage you to do more than just read these stories. Think some more about your own story. Allow God to speak to you so that you may know even more deeply that he is God and that he makes a difference in our lives.

You never know when a LIFT writer might give you a ring and ask you to share your story as an encouragement to others.

Peace.

Grant Harris Senior Pastor

CONTENTS

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14

6

20

17 8 22

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CONTENTS

Editorial Pastor Grant Harris

12

The Totara Club: Dementia Day Care

22

Tony Knight A Knight’s Journey

Senior Pastor Grant Harris

4

Snippets What’s happening at Windsor?

6

Elizabeth Aitken An Unexpected Journey

14

17

Mark and Ruth McConnell The Road So Far

24

Theosart Nicole Bennett

Louis Tousain Humble Saint

Editor Writers Pam Bedwell, Grant Harris, David Julie Belding editor@liftmagazine.org Knell, Iain Litterick, Lisa Michelle, Elliot Rice, Sophie Rice

Advertising Bert Holl Design & Production advertise.lift@gmail.com Lewis Hurst lewis@hcreative.co.nz ISSN 2230-2646

26

Sam Burrows Tall Poppies Beware

Photographers Belinda Bradley, Janice Dunn, Devin Hart, Ash Binnie, Dani Mackay

8

Dorothy Andreassend: Sharing God’s Love

20

Gareth Sands Sowing Seeds for Change

28

Reflections on James Poem by Susie Johnston Lift (“Life Integrating Faith Together”) is the quarterly magazine of Windsor Park Baptist Church, PO Box 65385, Mairangi Bay, Auckland

Lift is a member of the Australasian Religious Press Association.

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 MAGAZINE 3

SNIPPETS

For Art’s Sake

Over the last few months we’ve had some great displays in the Theosart Gallery (part of cafewindsor) including a fantastic display of art from the children at Small Fries Christian Childcare Centre – we think the next Picasso will probably come out of Small Fries. We’ve also had photography displays and an array of different artistic mediums from some talented people.

Each month we have a different display and normally the art is for sale. We’ve been operating the Theosart Gallery for a few years now and the diverse range of displays reflects the diverse community we have at Windsor Park and the different stories they have to tell. We encourage you to check the Theosart Gallery regularly and take some time to thank God that we live in such a beautiful world that so many people reflect back to us in different ways and forms. If you’re a creative person and would like to contribute to the Theosart Gallery we’d love to hear from you as we take bookings in advance for displays and collections – drop us a line at info@windsorpark.org.nz and we can meet up with you over a coffee at the Theosart Gallery.

Can you hear us?

We’re a diverse community who all move and shake in different ways. This means that we all hear things differently according to our personalities. The leaders at Windsor Park seek to respect this diversity by communicating what’s going on around WP in a host of different ways. We use a wide array of electronic communications including our websites, Facebook pages, Instagram account (wpbaptist), emails and texts; we also write letters and put them in envelopes (old school we know, but still important), we use the weekly newsletter and place things on the Information kiosk to take away and we publish LIFT quarterly. We even encourage good old face-to-face meetings three times a year, and on top of that we always say, “If you want to know something, ask us,” as we seek to be transparent in all we do. There are probably other ways that we could communicate, but rather than read your minds on that we’d love to hear from you. If you can’t hear us, let us know how we can communicate with you better. Drop us an email at info@windsorpark.org. nz, write us a letter, ring us, or pop in for a chat.

GAINING MOMENTUM

In the Bible Jesus says some significant words when someone asks him what is the most important thing in life. It’s written several times but in summary he says, “Love God totally and love your neighbour as yourself.” Those two things are mutually inclusive – you can’t do one without doing the other. In response to this there’s been something good going on in our local neighbourhood. We’re slowly picking up traction and making a difference in the lives of our physical neighbours here at Windsor Park. It’s called Momentum, and it’s a small group of people who gather together on Saturday and seek to love those who are most affected by our activity and noise and the physical activities on our site – those who live on the closest street adjoining our property.

On a regular basis these folks are knocking on doors and asking, “How can we serve you?” We love what this group is doing, and we’d love to encourage more of you either to join Momentum, or simply to build some momentum in your own street with your own neighbours. Either way it’s living out the words of Jesus in a relevant and powerful way.

SNIPPETS

Creativity and beyond Around the world churches struggle to find ways to embrace creativity (and creative people) within their congregations. This is a modern challenge as historically some of the greatest artists in history have found their expression within the church (maybe we should bring back cathedrals?) At Windsor Park we have a heart to embrace creativity and find ways of using creative expression within our worship more than just with music.

We’re open to ideas and suggestions!

As we’ve sought to be more creative, something birthed within us that made its way into being a service not only to

the church but also to the wider community.

WindsorCreative was born, with a heart to be a creative design agency that impacts the world, specialising in helping non-profit organisations in cost-effective ways.

It’s in its early development stage and we need you to help us promote it, so check out www.windsorcreative.org.nz and spread the word. You’ll find our experienced designers are great to deal with and embrace the values of who we are at Windsor Park.

HAMMERS AND NAILS

YOU’RE VERY INTERESTING

We’ve recently been putting together a list of all the ways that people can connect at Windsor Park, realising that we need to be a little more obvious in getting this information out to make connection easier for people new to our community. One of the ways that people connect are in what we call Interest Groups, which are groups of people gathering together to do life with one another based around something that they’re all interested in – sounds simple enough! We’ve discovered we have more of these types of groups than we thought. From indoor soccer to art to tramping to coffee there are heaps of people getting to know each other in different ways. But we reckon that’s only the start as the more we ask the more we realise there are other groups of people doing all sorts of different things. We encourage you to find ways to connect that are good for you, and if you have a particular hobby or interest that you’d like to share with others, let us know so we can help others connect with you. Drop us a line at info@windsorpark.org.nz so we can get interested in your interest group!

At a recent Windsor Park forum (aka chat session) we talked about our plans to renovate our auditorium to add some capacity and bring a more modern feel. In addition to this we’re planning to shift the caféwindsor kitchen next to cafewindsor and we’re also looking at how we can modernise the Kauri Room and make it more functional. In a renovated tavern these alterations all require careful thought. When you renovate an older home you never know what’s behind the walls! As our facilities age we’re conscious of keeping them as usable as possible and finding a balance between making our spaces welcoming and comfortable and achieving that in an affordable way. Over the next few months you’ll see our plans unfold, and you’ll also be given the opportunity to contribute towards these renovations. A call for funding always puts us outside our comfort zone but an investment into church structures is an investment into lives – you only need to hang out at Windsor Park on any given day to see the array of people that use our facilities. We’re in effect investing into our community.

LIFT MAGAZINE 5

ELIZABETH AITKEN

AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

By Elizabeth Aiken

My life journey has been action packed and full of adventures. I have accomplished things that maybe weren’t so typical for a teenager growing up.

At sixteen I left school to pursue a career in performing arts while continuing my academic studies through self-taught correspondence school. It was tough and I sometimes wondered why I decided to choose that path.

But I learned quickly that hard work equals rewards and I graduated from my dance course and earned a scholarship to attend the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington DC.

seen before. But I soldiered on and grasped each opportunity that I could. At the end of my time with the Kirov, I was one of the lucky ones. I auditioned for dozens of ballet companies and I got a job.

I danced for the Colorado Ballet Company in Denver and while I thought things had been tough already, I was shocked to realise this life of competitive living and discipline had only just started.

When I did decide to come home to New Zealand and live a “normal” life, I found myself working as a flight attendant. It was the point in my life where I hit a fork in the road and began to see more clearly the direction in which my life was heading.

BALLERINA

BEAUTY PAGEANT

For a girl wanting to become a real life ballerina, this was the place to be – to learn from the best while improving my technique and stamina. It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was one of the most physically demanding, stressful and regimented times of my life. I knew, however, that in order to succeed I had to work hard to reach my dream. It meant hours of rehearsals and repetitious exercises six days a week in a style of dance I’d never 6 LIFT MAGAZINE

A colleague of mine had been involved in beauty pageants her whole life and had recently been asked to enter the Miss Universe New Zealand pageant. She was a beautiful, reserved girl with not a lot of self-confidence.

Personally, I was unsure how a pageant could benefit her outlook and inner peace.

She was determined to do it, however, and believed it would help her with this selfconfidence issue. She wanted me to be her

side-kick and enter the competition with her for moral support as she was anxious about doing it alone.

I had a strong opinion about beauty pageants. I flat out didn’t like them. I didn’t like how a young woman was portrayed as an object to be judged – being scored merely on how someone else perceived her beauty. I didn’t like that a young woman had to parade around in a swimsuit and felt the need to enhance her body in order for someone else to say she looked good (or not). And I really didn’t understand what a girl would get out of this experience and how it could make her feel she had truly achieved something good.

So it was a huge thing for me to step outside of what I believed, to help a friend who was so desperate to be part of this. It turned out that my friend didn’t end up in the pageant, due to the stress it caused her. But little old me, who was anti-pageants, had no choice but to follow through on my commitment.

So I found myself in a rather odd situation. I was staying in a hotel room that I shared with a fellow contestant. It was about day three of the week-long Miss Universe New Zealand competition. Then my room-mate made a comment which changed everything.

ELIZABETH AITKEN

“You’re my pick to win this thing,” she said, “and a lot of the others think so too.”

Immediately I laughed and shrugged it off. I didn’t even want to win, let alone think I had a chance.

As I went to sleep that night, however, I began to re-think things, and something clicked.

I prayed and asked God to help me be more positive, to allow me to stop stereotyping, and to use those skills I had gained in my dancing past to make the most of this opportunity. Most of all, I asked him to help me to remain true to myself and for the judges to see my inner beauty and how by being a strong, focused and positive person, I could represent New Zealand with a down-to-earth attitude. Things changed after that moment.

I won! Strange as it may sound, it’s true. I was Miss Universe New Zealand 2006. To me this wasn’t a big achievement. It was where it led me that I am most proud of.

TEAR FUND

As the year progressed I received a remarkable opportunity to head to Kenya and Tanzania in Africa with the New Zealand Hope Foundation.

My first encounter with the majority world was during a trip to the second largest urban

I wake up each day feeling privileged to go to work and know I am truly making a difference. slum in Africa. Sewerage ran freely along the streets and the smell was terrible. The children had bare feet, ragged clothing, and sat on a concrete floor in a derelict structure without school books or resources to learn. I don’t think I was really prepared for how that moment was going to change my life.

I was inspired after this trip to do more, to learn more. My husband and I went to Uganda for our honeymoon where we volunteered for a farming project and learned more about the developing world. We wanted to find out ways

we could make a difference in how we lived back in New Zealand to help those in need in Africa.

Ever since my fork in the road, my outlook on life has changed. It has become an outlook for serving others and making a positive difference in the lives of the disadvantaged and oppressed. I found my passion, my journey had begun, and I was able to use the skills and learning experiences from the past to do what I do today.

I now work for TEAR Fund New Zealand – a Christian aid and development agency. I wake up each day feeling privileged to go to work and know I am truly making a difference.

Inner beauty and knowing who I am in God’s eyes has helped me to get here, with a dream, determination and a focus on what I want most in the world. Some of it has been really hard work, but it’s been so worth it!

When Elizabeth and her husband Andrew got married in November 2009 they wanted to start out at a new church, close to their home, one that shared their life values and ethos. After searching they discovered Windsor Park. “We love what it’s all about,” says Elizabeth, “community, faith, family and serving others. Our twoyear-old loves Promise Kids on Sundays and we love the café and the message given

by Grant each week.”

LIFT MAGAZINE 7

DOROTHY ANDREASSEND

PEOPLE MUST FIND OUT HOW MUCH JESUS LOVES THEM! Sophie Rice talks to Dorothy Andreassend

Photos: Janice Dunn

Having a cup of coffee with Dorothy Andreassend seems to turn the small café in which we’re settled into a cosy sitting room.

She pulls a silk scarf from her bag and begins to unwrap an ancient leather-bound Bible.

She was given the Bible last January from a distant Australian family member with whom she has recently become connected. Dorothy carefully opens the first page. The Bible was first gifted in 1891 as a wedding present from Rev John Clark to her grandfather and grandmother whom she never knew. Its aged pages, worn right through in some parts, are filled with wonderful poetry and stories that her Grandma wrote. From this Bible Dorothy and her grandmother have been able to defy the distance of time and become better acquainted.

“There’s a lot we don’t know really,” she says about her family as she flicks through the pages.

CHILDHOOD

Dorothy was raised in Christchurch with one brother and two sisters. Although her family didn’t attend church, Dorothy was very young when she found God for herself. I asked her how and why it was that she went along to church. She tells me there was no other way to explain it, other than that she just “knew” there was a kind God who existed. She looks at the old Bible and explains the significance of the grandmother whose book she now holds.

“Those who go on ahead of us are praying for us,” she says.

Dorothy believes that this intercession on her behalf, generations earlier, is what enabled her to draw near to God. She holds that the same power of prayer gave her a neighbour – “a gift from God,” who first took her to church as a child.

“She was like the grandmother I never had,” says Dorothy.

With weekly trips to St Giles Presbyterian came a love of church where Dorothy wanted to be “all the time.”

GOING HOME

In a recent trip back to her hometown Dorothy revisited that church where she first met

This Bible was first gifted in 1891 as a wedding present from Rev John Clark to Dorothy’s grandfather and grandmother whom she never knew

God. The sanctuary had been damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes but it was still standing, although no longer used. Dorothy found the front door to the hall where she had once attended kids’ church. While it would normally be locked, the door was slightly ajar.

“It was as if God knew I was going to be there,” she says.

Inside, the same quiltings graced the walls that she had watched being hung many years ago. In the same room people were still meeting the Lord today as Dorothy had done as a child.

She opens a book of photos that her daughter-in-law and son had put together from her trip back to her old home. It records a visit to her old primary school, Waimairi. where there was still a hopscotch like they used to have, although instead of the old hopscotch stones that were “as precious to [the schoolgirls] as marbles were to the boys,” it was now simply lines painted onto the ground. She laughingly tells me how a mission to find her first house on Papanui Road had ended with the discovery that it had been replaced by a pet store, “Animates.”

GROWING UP

From Christchurch Dorothy moved to Timaru before finishing senior primary school. She went to church alone, and started teaching Sunday School at the age of twelve, in a small church of combined denominations.

“On communion Sundays when the minister invited those who loved the Lord to stay behind for communion, I always had to leave,”

Dorothy says. “I would explain to God that I wanted to stay but Mum wouldn’t let me.”

Eventually she started attending a large Presbyterian church in the city. She became a qualified lay preacher in the Presbyterian church and was involved in street and pub evangelism and Christian drop-in centres.

It was in Timaru that Dorothy met her husband Jim, a racing cyclist. Jim was the “hero of the city,” as Dorothy put it, representing New Zealand in hockey (the first in South Canterbury to do so) and setting time trial records for cycling that still stand. The two were married when Dorothy was eighteen years old.

Dorothy wanted more and more of God. Across the road from their Presbyterian church was a noisy, lively one where “amazing things were happening.” When it held a week-long mission, Jim and Dorothy decided to visit.

Immediately Dorothy felt this was the New Testament church she’d been looking for. But they decided to go to both churches as she did not intend to leave her present one.

PROPHECY

“On one occasion people were speaking out in their meeting and into my mind came a continuation of the message that was being spoken out,” says Dorothy. “I later learned this was called prophecy. I spoke it out – it seemed a natural thing to do – and I knew God was prompting me.”

These were the early days of the neopentecostal movement, and not everyone in their Presbyterian church was comfortable with LIFT MAGAZINE 9

DOROTHY ANDREASSEND

Dorothy and her husband Jim

dramatic Holy Spirit manifestations. Eventually the elders relieved Dorothy of her leadership positions. The Andreassends began to attend the Pentecostal church regularly and became involved in all aspects of its ministry.

Though Dorothy radiates warmth and joy, she has endured suffering too. At the age of twenty-one her brother was tragically killed in a car accident caused by people with whom Dorothy was personally connected.

Her personal trials make her words all the more powerful as she shares with me how they shaped her and allowed her to see God more clearly.

There is depth in her proclamation that “God can take you through anything.”

COMMUNITY SERVICE

It was also suffering that led Dorothy and her husband to the ministry of helping those in social welfare care and on the streets of Timaru. It was a calling on her life to help the people in her city who needed a place to stay and, as she put it, “everything just sort of falls into place when we truly live for God.” From homeless people to gang members, Dorothy and Jim would invite anyone they could help to come and stay with them. One girl still has a special place in Dorothy’s heart.

She wrote Dorothy a letter she has never forgotten. Since the girl found it hard to talk about her pain and shame in person, she 10 LIFT MAGAZINE

communicated with Dorothy through notes and messages. Her letter revealed she had heard of the love of Jesus, but did not feel he could possibly love her. Knowing the things she had done and the dirtiness she felt, she asked Dorothy how a God so holy could accept her. Dorothy was moved by this girl’s pain, and also by the realisation of just how intensely God did care about her.

Helping people was what Dorothy wanted to do, and in doing that she would point them to Jesus.

“People have got to find out how much Jesus loves them,” she says.

Thus Dorothy and Jim became increasingly involved in the lives of the less fortunate.

She tells of one nose-pierced man who lived with them for a while. His name now escapes her, but she recalls his face by the nose ring he wore that matched his colossal size. He was part of a biker gang and was “no angel by any means.” In the many conversations Dorothy and her husband had with him, they came to find out that not only he but also other members of his gang were members of the SPCA – encouragers of humane animal treatment! It seems almost comical to imagine such a conversation around the kitchen table but it was a defining moment for Dorothy to realise that “in everyone there’s a little seed, a tiny light and it just needs to be brought out to grow.”

When they moved to Auckland Dorothy’s prophetic gifts continued to be used. She has prophesied since the mid-1960s and has also sung in the Spirit.

“God has given me the privilege of messages of confirmation for people,” she says. “I take this gift seriously. Sometimes God has rebuked me because the message has been so serious or unusual that I haven’t wanted to bring it.

But he always understands. The Lord usually only gives me the first sentence and I must trust him to bring out what he wants to say.

To be God’s voice is a privilege that I don’t take for granted.”

They have always used their home for evangelism and for six decades have had a tradition of decorating it at Christmas. Over the years they would invite people to drop by and see their beautifully decorated home.

Sometimes they would do small concerts, and always they put out a mystery box of gifts for children who visited. The Christmas house tradition grew as they accumulated more and more decorations. Increasing numbers of people came to visit as they heard about it or read their open invitation in a church bulletin.

Through her experiences, Dorothy expresses the power and love of God in a way that is both grounded and moving. As she puts it, and as Isaiah 64:8 states, “We are mere clay in the hand of a Potter who has moulded us to live a life honouring to him.”

TOTARA CLUB

THE TOTARA CLUB: DEMENTIA DAY CARE It’s easy to focus on the negatives when you’re faced with the prospects of a degenerative mental illness. Dementia is one of these illnesses, described by the Ministry of Health as the experience of “a gradual loss of brain function due to physical changes in the structure of the brain.”

There are more than 70 different types of dementia with no available cure, and New Zealand’s adult population is aging. Our future with dementia certainly seems grim.

When descriptions like the above categorise people with dementia as people with “loss,” how can we continue to ascribe human dignity – the honour of being in God’s image – to these loved ones? It’s possible that we ourselves may eventually face this reality. What could it look like to do life with dementia well?

The Totara Club offers one hopeful solution.

Operated five days a week by Equip, the Totara Club is a community daycare service run right Karen Young and Gael Ansell

12 LIFT MAGAZINE

by Elliot Rice here at WPBC. It provides interactive daycare for people diagnosed with mild to moderate dementia, while also helping to support the families of club members.

A DAY WITH THE CLUB

Recently I had the privilege of spending a day with the club, and meeting with the two staff there. The club’s co-ordinator is Gael Ansell.

She is a diversional therapist and experienced in working with older adults. Dementia practitioner Karen Young has been involved with Equip in various roles for eight years, is an enrolled nurse, and has done specific dementia care training. Since the club opened in mid-December 2012, about twenty people living with dementia have been gathering in Windsor’s South Lounge (the “Totara Room”) to take part.

Gael and Karen together began setting up the club last November. This involved planning the service, fitting out the room with furniture, and meeting with prospective members. In January they ran a community symposium on dementia, featuring guest speaker Dr Chris Perkins, to raise awareness of the new service.

Since those early days the club has been growing steadily, both in members and in volunteer help. Eight to thirteen members attend each day. The Totara Club now has a team of six volunteers, mostly from Windsor Park Church. Working alongside the staff are university students completing placements in their professions, for example occupational therapists and nursing or social work students.

The Totara Club offers a hopeful solution for people with dementia, because it is a rewarding and inclusive programme that recognises the dignity and significance of each member. As members are inducted into the club they are given an individualised programme tailored to meet their strengths and needs.

My day with the club begins with the morning “Meet and Greet.” Over a hot drink members are given a chance to catch up. The day begins as it continues throughout, full of laughter and satisfying interaction. For a group of people who are said to be losing brain function, you need to be on your toes to keep up with the cheeky banter that goes on!

Though they struggle with memory and language impairment, the people here are still able to develop meaningful friendships, and it was a joy to observe their interactions. It’s a great thing that people who are increasingly disconnected from what they have known can still enjoy the connectedness of friendship.

Karen Young reflected with satisfaction on the deep camaraderie that has come about for one of their groups of men.

Next on the schedule are the group exercises which aim to maintain physical strength.

TOTARA CLUB

It’s a holistic programme, keeping members active physically, socially and mentally. Gael Ansell leads the exercise to a background of musical classics – and you’re likely to hear a few members humming along! The new table tennis table has also been a hit, especially on Thursdays when they have an all-male group.

For mental exercise we spend some time doing word and memory games together.

The staff team tailors these games to suit the specific interests of the members and to keep them varied and interesting. This is important for people with dementia, as their cognitive abilities begin to wane. They work hard here to retain that understanding – although it doesn’t rule out the odd bit of cheating!

There’s no obligation to stick to the programme either. This isn’t a babysitting service.

One man likes to begin his day with a puzzle; another plays the piano. Newspapers are well read, and there’s plenty of tea and conversation. Karen herself has discovered a growing passion for gardening as she works with mem-

For a group of people who are said to be losing brain function, you need to be on your toes to keep up with the cheeky banter that goes on! bers in the backyard. In fact the only thing that seems to be neglected is the TV in the corner.

POSITIVE DIFFERENCE

In talking about the club, it’s clear from Karen that this is a place for people living with dementia to retain dignity and purpose. While many people with the illness are left at home occupied by television, or perhaps prematurely admitted to a rest home, the Totara Club offers a positive alternative service. It aims to support members’ as they continue to live at

home, while providing respite for their families.

Connection with members’ carers is important for the daycare. People are encouraged to participate in the socialising at the start and end of the day. The Totara Club can also offer advice for further care and services which families might make use of.

My day with my new friends ends with a healthily competitive game of indoor bowls – undoubtedly the crowd favourite. Experienced pros and amateurish lobbers like myself enjoy stepping up to bowl in front of an encouraging bunch of comrades.

While the medical world says their brains are degenerating, as I look around the room I see there is more to this than loss. Yes, dementia irrevocably changes people, but Karen Young, Gael Ansell and the Totara Club affirm their members’ ongoing dignity and significance.

The friendship, laughter and activity here assure me of that.

Life with dementia is being done well at the Totara Club.

LIFT MAGAZINE 13

MARK AND RUTH MCCONNELL

THE ROAD

SO FAR

Whether you’ve always lived in New Zealand or you’ve recently arrived, everyone is on a journey. And it is not only a geographical journey, but a spiritual one as well. This is the journey of Mark and Ruth McConnell.

Story and photos by Pam Bedwell How does a Scottish lass in the Amazon with her missionary parents meet a lad who’s never left Scotland? And how on earth did they end up in New Zealand via Canada?

Mark and Ruth met briefly as young teens when Ruth’s family was home on furlough; Mark’s church was supporting the family and he was there at one of the conferences.

Upon returning to the Amazon Ruth nursed her “awkward teenage crush” for four years until the next furlough. Funnily enough, all of this time was spent thinking of Mark with a different last name. It took a bit of time to put two and two together and come up with “Yes, we have met before.” They were now nineteen and seventeen respectively and when Mark saw Ruth he changed his mind about not going to the conference and phoned for a ticket. He got the last available one.

As a child of missionaries, Ruth was sent to boarding school at a young age. Education was important to her parents who wanted the very best possible for their children. However, for young Ruth it was difficult being away from her family. During this time seeds of self-reliance began to germinate. At seventeen and back in Scotland on furlough, Ruth was in the final stages of school and preparing for university. She and Mark dated for a year before splitting up to follow separate paths.

Ruth felt for certain she would be a missionary back in the Amazon. Since the age of twelve she had had a love for counselling and thought she could perhaps counsel missionaries struggling in their marriages. She graduated from Aberdeen University with a PhD, with particular interest in separation issues and the effect of divorce on children.

While Ruth was studying in Aberdeen, Mark was studying in Glasgow – until he wanted to complete a law degree. The only university 14 LIFT MAGAZINE

that accepted him into their law program was Aberdeen. So, four years after their breakup, Mark and Ruth began to get to know each other again. This time it ended in marriage.

WHERE TO NOW?

After university Brazil was still very much on Ruth’s heart, and so they went for a six-week visit as they sought God’s direction. While there, out in the jungle, a man suddenly appeared wearing a t-shirt with the word Regent on it. Regent College in Vancouver was another opportunity they were considering.

This was the door that opened.

Mark left for Canada first as Ruth was struggling to complete her PhD on time, having discovered she was unexpectedly pregnant. It was no normal pregnancy however. Ruth had hyperemesis and vomited all day every day,

Upon returning to the Amazon Ruth nursed her “awkward teenage crush” for four years until the next furlough. throughout the pregnancy. Then problems with the baby began to emerge. There they were, a young couple in a new land, with no family or friends, facing their biggest challenge yet. The people of Regent College became their family and with them they found huge support. Little Bethany was born very small with a rare chromosomal abnormality that left her handicapped. Her condition was so rare that there were only three reported cases in the world.

“Each day was spent just trying to keep her alive,” says Ruth.

During her short life Bethany became an important part of the Regent community which united to surround her in prayer at her birth, during her life and in the weeks of

illness leading to her death at thirteen months.

In her memory a stained-glass window was installed in the glass wall separating the prayer chapel from the courtyard garden, and it was this window that provided the focus for the planting of the garden. (Regent College Alumni Mosaic.)

After Mark’s graduation the couple returned to Aberdeen where Mark pastored in his old church for a short time followed by a move to Rugby, England – the birthplace of rugby football – where more “what now?” questions were asked of God. “Wait,” was the only answer, until one day, totally out of the blue, a Canadian woman phoned.

“I’ve been fighting with the Holy Spirit for days,” she said.

As Mark listened he wondered, who are you?

She went on to invite him to become the associate pastor or West Point Grey Baptist in Vancouver. For the next ten years this is where the McConnell family lived. Mark and Ruth reconnected with people from Regent and Mark took on an on-call chaplaincy ministry at the local children’s and women’s hospital where Ruth and Bethany had spent so much time. During this tenure he also tried to complete his PhD. After a short time as acting senior pastor, Mark decided to resign in order to work full time on achieving his goal.

It was in Mark’s heart to teach theology.

But since opportunities were scarce in the Vancouver area he started looking elsewhere.

He knew that for this dream to come true he had to find a job for Ruth too.

During her husband’s stint as pastor, Ruth had not been idle. She had worked hard, become self-sufficient and had built up a private counselling practice. It had taken her five years, but now it was running smoothly, and when Mark came to her excited about two teaching jobs he’d found in New Zealand, she didn’t want to know about them.

FEATURE

LIFT MAGAZINE 15

MARK AND RUTH MCCONNELL

The next day in the cafeteria Mark met a man from Laidlaw College – the very place where he’d found the jobs.

“It must be a sign!” he told his wife, half joking, half serious.

But no, she didn’t want to leave and the deadline for application passed.

During a retreat to beautiful Galiano Island on British Columbia’s west coast, Ruth wrestled with God. She didn’t know if she trusted God. There had been three major crises after obeying God’s leading – Bethany, the death of her mother after a short fight with cancer and the sudden death of Mark’s father. She was struggling with the thought that every time you obeyed God something bad happened.

She had built up a nice little kingdom and was not happy to give it all up.

After a week of wrestling, Ruth relinquished her kingdom. Shortly after getting home they had a phone call. The jobs Mark had seen advertised earlier were still available and could they meet with some head-hunters in the area for an informal interview?

The McConnell family arrived in New Zealand in January, 2010.

“God distinctively led us here,” notes Mark. They were back next to the beloved ocean they had so enjoyed in Vancouver; and when they got a hankering for winter and mountains they did a bit of snowshoeing in Queenstown.

Mark and Ruth live with their two teenaged daughters, one dog, two cats, two fish and a snail in Red Beach.

Mark coaches soccer for his daughter’s elevens team at Kingsway, as well as playing himself. Ruth manages netball for their other daughter’s team. They enjoy a life that is “crazy busy,” full of learning and growing in fields they are passionate about.

Ruth found the transition from private practice to teaching challenging but now enjoys it.

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“If we’re going to know anything about God,” he says, “We’ve got to know who Jesus is. We have to discover that central truth.”

She had struggled with theologically distorted thoughts like “When you obey, you gotta pay” (for example, someone you love dies.)

“I’ve slowly come to realise that God can be trusted,” she says. “We’re not immune to that sort of loss. It’s not associated with obedience, really, it’s associated with life.”

She goes on to say she’ll probably be struggling with these thoughts until she gets to heaven.

“Some might think that having doubts reveals an absence of faith. But I think it’s a sign of faith – seeking answers to hard questions. It may not be robust faith – maybe

more like faith in tatters – but it’s good enough for God. The wrestling provides the basis for communication with him.”

Mark searches for ways to connect theology with life – especially with movies, TV and music.

“Jesus is the speech act of God,” he explains to me. “Whenever God speaks he speaks Jesus, and whenever he speaks Jesus, something happens. Genesis says, ‘In the beginning God created;’ John says, ‘In the beginning was the Word;’ and the Apostle Paul says ‘Everything was created in, through and for Jesus.’ Everything in creation is already in relationship with Jesus.”

Mark believes we’ve lost the sense that we are participating in God’s own life through Jesus, even as we live out our ordinary, everyday lives.

“If we’re going to know anything about God,” he says, “we’ve got to know who Jesus is. We have to discover that central truth.”

The journey has just begun.

LOUIS TOUSAIN

LOUIS TOUSAIN: HUMBLE SAINT

By Lisa Michelle Photos: Belinda Bradley

From the moment he walked into caféwindsor, I could sense a man with a meaningful mission.

His quiet voice reflected his gentle nature. and as we settled into conversation I found myself drawn towards his humble spirit. After an hour of hearing his story, I discovered my instinct was correct. This man before me was one humble saint.

Louis was born in the Netherlands into a working class family, the second of five boys. He was raised a “good Catholic boy” and remembers going with his mother to Mass on Saturday evenings. He believes that spending considerable time on your knees in a very cold church with the sermon being spoken in Latin, is “a great way to chase people away from God and church.”

His father passed away at the young age of 49, when Louis was in his early 20’s. This pivotal event helped Louis see the value of life and he has happy memories of his parents together. He remembers coming home from school and seeing his mother on his father’s lap. “They were very happily married,” he says.

LIFT MAGAZINE 17

LOUIS TOUSAIN School was tough for Louis growing up – mainly by his own making, he admits, and says, “Nowadays they would have 6 or 7 behaviour plans in place and a good dose of Ritalin for me.” He went to Roman Catholic schools, with nuns dressed in full habits, and did not enjoy those years at all. He realised, however, that he would not get far without a decent education so he endured. Full of energy and mischief, young Louis was then sent to a school in a nearboy town, which meant riding a pushbike for 45 minutes each way. A teacher suggested to his parents that he become involved in some active sports and there began his interest in Judo. Louis trained hard at a competitive level and it helped him release excess energy.

In Holland, at the time he was finishing school, compulsory conscription was still in place so Louis spent a year and a half in the army before joining the Police force in Rotterdam. After a few years he realised that unless you can actually think like a cop you shouldn’t be one.

He did learn a few things, however, like how fast police cars can negotiate roundabouts! In 1985, after four “fun” years, he resigned from the force and set off overseas.

field. He had utilised similar skills when in the police force, and when nursing and working with at-risk youth in New Zealand.

Alongside his studies, Louis worked long hours to provide for the family. “That’s one of the principles of life,” he says. “Often we have to choose – paying short term or paying long term.”

Louis’s two daughters, Alana, 25, and Nika, 23, have both put themselves through university and are doing well in their respective careers. He is proud of his daughters and says now he feels confident of their future: “Their wings are strong, they are balanced, and they can make good decisions.”

WORKING IN MENTAL HEALTH

Louis has spent the last twelve years working in community mental health. “Most of the people with mental ill-health issues live in the community,” he says. He worked in team leader and management roles prior to his current job at Equip, a leading mental health organisation and part of the Windsor Park Baptist community, where he has spent the last twelve months as General Manager. He IMMIGRATION oversees operations and ensures they are Louis decided to settle in New Zealand after providing the best care in line with the latest a friend of his had immigrated shortly before. research and that staff are properly trained.

He knew deep down that he was escaping, Whether he is out in the field or in supervisory and with that in mind he chose to move to roles, he is still working with people – and the pther side of the world so there would be their “dreams and aspirations, their strengths, less chance of returning. When asked what he their hurts, their beauties, their pain and was escaping from, he shared in one word: their joys.” heartbreak. His judo teacher Louis says Equip is a had said to him, “Louis, you Christian organisation. know you’re only trying to “That’s one of the That does not mean all escape [reality]” but it was staff are required to be principles of life, only in hindsight that Louis believers, but they need could see his teacher had often we have to to be comfortable with its been right.

Christian ethos. choose – paying Louis began looking for “The beautiful thing,” short term or new opportunities and a life he says, “is the culture at to make for himself. He met Equip. It is about people paying long term.”

Kath, a Kiwi girl, and they first, including staff.” married the weekend after Louis is a firm believer in Cyclone Bola hit, in 1988. role-modelling.

They placed a marquee next to the Riverhead “As a manager,” he says, “you can’t expect Presbyterian Church and had the service inside staff to treat clients with respect if the message and the reception out. The weather, despite six you’re sending out is not congruent.” inches of rain the evening before, was brilliant.

He feels blessed by the staff who work not for After he’d worked for a time in the timber the moderate pay, but because they want to industry and was enjoying the physical aspects make a difference. of it, Kath asked him one day, “What might Louis is aware of the need for self care. you do with your three brain cells?” So Louis “When you are regularly in touch with the began studying towards a nursing degree. He tough side of human life, the side of human spent internship hours at Spectrum Care as tragedy, to look after yourself is essential well as the Mason Clinic, working alongside because you yourself are the therapeutic tool.” the “criminally insane.” Louis has always been He finds home his haven to unwind and fascinated by human nature, and had been a recharge by reading or listening to music. quiet observer of people and their behaviour “I don’t mind people,” he says, “but in small prior to his current work in the mental health doses on the weekends.”

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The Tousains enjoy life on a 50-acre farm, raising livestock and bees. There at the back Louis finds solitude and reflection. Despite his love of working the land, however, he finds great satisfaction in his job and believes it is where God wants him to be.

Kath is a talented artist and their daughters have left home but visit often. Says Louis, “One small measure of success as parents is if your kids still want to come and hang out with mum and dad, play board games and stay for the weekend.”

FAITH AND LIFE

After being put off church by his Catholic upbringing, Louis received a Bible from Kath after they began dating. He says God used this opportunity to come and knock on his door again.

One evening in 1987 he was reading the book of John and felt God’s presence.

Louis wept.

“It was cleansing,” he says, “and God came to reinforce the truth that he was my Father.”

Nowadays his faith is strong even though he does not attend church regularly. When he does attend, he enjoys the worship and sees the benefit of fellowshipping with and encouraging others.

“In some ways,” he says, “I’m a bit of a fundamentalist. I take the Word as it is. But the essence of my faith, what I understand of Christ, is that he came to pay the price for our sins. I’ve accepted that and he is my Lord and Saviour.”

His philosophy, he says, is “everything I do, I do it to bring glory to God.” While Louis has only ever experienced a situational period of depression, he is aware of the complexities of human life.

“As we grow old, we become familiar with most human experiences, to a degree. All of us see the full joys of life and we see the tragedies. We experience people being born and people passing away.”

He says often people with painful experiences of their own are attracted to the helping profession, wanting to support others.

“In working with people,” he says, “it’s the vulnerability that creates strength.”

He encourages working in areas that provide meaning, walking alongside others, so we can leave the world in a better state than we found it.

“Being a mother, being a husband – anything you do you can choose to do for the glory of God.” At Equip staff meetings they pray: “Lord, let us go out and be some of the salt and light of the earth, and Lord, bring some hope, some love, something reflecting your glory to the people we work with.”

I could not think of a better person to lead the way.

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FEATURE

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GARETH SANDS

SOWING SEEDS FOR CHANGE

By David Knell

“People can change” This fundamental belief is the driving force behind Gareth Sands as he fulfils his role as director of the Mount Eden Corrections Facility.

Opened in 2011 MECF is the main reception prison for newly remanded male prisoners in the Auckland region.

Gareth was born in Australia, but the family moved to the UK when he was four. There he received an excellent education, culminating in a degree in sociology at Durham University and a masters in criminology at Cambridge.

To fund his way through university, Gareth worked for six years, three of them for the Shaftsbury Society. This is a large, Christianbased charity that works with disabled people and local communities through education, adult support and rehabilitation.

Gareth started his career in prison administration as a volunteer in Durham Prison chaplaincy. Then for the next twelve years he worked with problem prisoners in several high security prisons, including two women’s prisons. He was director of HM Prison Lowdham Grange, a high-security private prison for long-term dangerous males. Located in the village of Lowdham near Nottingham, England, the prison is run by the Serco Group.

PRIVATE PRISON

Serco also operates the Mount Eden Corrections Facility, which is now in the second year of a ten-year contract. The first prison to be privatised in New Zealand, it is also the biggest prison in the country, with beds for 966 sentenced and remand male prisoners.

The statistics are impressive: • 29,000 movements per year through the receiving office • 4226 new to MECF in the last 12 months • Average stay: 23 days • Average age: 33 • Over 1,000,000 prisoner meals per year.

Serco MECF supports the strategy of “Creating Lasting Change.” This aims to reduce recidivism by breaking the cycle of

Photo: Devin Hart

reoffending, and is committed to providing offenders with the opportunity to start over.

This change is ultimately about people, and encouraging, empowering and equipping them in an attempt to keep them out of custody after release. This is the principle of sowing seeds for change.

Prisoner programmes are aligned with a “pathways” strategy. The pathway model identifies seven key areas where positive intervention could reduce the likelihood of reoffending. These are: • Education and job training • Drug and alcohol rehabilitation • Mental and physical health • Attitudes and self control • Finance and debt management • Accommodation • Children and whanau.

There are many programs available. A joint venture between the Department of Corrections and the Open Polytechnic can lead to qualifications for enrolled prisoners.

Prisoners spend ten hours a week studying courses such as career and self-development; employment, work and life skills; and NCEA levels one and two.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley said recently, “Ninety per cent of prisoners cannot read or write properly, but while they are in prison they are the ultimate captive audience.”

The New Zealand government has introduced a performance table that measures security, assaults, drug tests and rehabilitation within the prison system. Tolley said the privatelyrun Mt Eden Prison was in the “exceeding” category, which “shows how much progress has been made by Serco.”

Gareth has been instrumental in many of these changes.

“Every day is a backbreaking job,” he says.

“It feels all consuming. The workload is at times crippling – often fourteen- to fifteenhour days. There is always something that needs fixing, and every day is different.

We are continuously being measured and

graded for performance and for fulfilling our contract, and we have a steady stream of high profile officials wanting to check on us. Last week we had Anne Tolley and the MP John Banks. It never ends. There are 300 staff here, of all nationalities – Maori, Pacific Islanders, New Zealanders, Europeans, Asians, Japanese.

A lot of good people. The budget is $25 million, and it is a tight one. It is challenging, but it’s what I do.”

Gareth is a big man, physically and spiritually. He is disarmingly warm and approachable, with a generous smile. He’s about as far from the archetypal prison governor as you can imagine. Gareth strongly believes in the ability of human beings to change “although some choose not to.” He believes in being firm but fair in his dealings with prisoners, and upholds Serco’s strategic themes of Security, Safety, Responsibility, Decency and Efficiency.

DEPENDING ON GOD

Gareth well knows what gets him through.

“I wouldn’t be able to do this job if it weren’t for my faith” he says.

As a boy, Gareth was taken to a local church by his mother, and faith has been central to his life since his teenage years. It was at church during a summer holiday from university that he met his wife, Anne. The couple have two children. Anne is very supportive of Gareth and prays for him every day.

“I couldn’t do what I do without her” he says.

Gareth and his family arrived to take up his position last January and they enjoy being in New Zealand. He follows cricket and rugby, and loves the beach life. Thanks to a long hot summer, he was able to get a swim in nearly every day after coming home from work, even up to June (Brrrrr!)

His is a challenging vocation, but with a clear vision and “good people around me” Gareth is determined to make a difference for the socially excluded and those who have been failed by the system.

Newly arrived in New Zealand, Gareth was standing in the main street at Mairangi Bay. He asked a passerby if they knew of a good church in the area. “Try Windsor Park Baptist Church” was the reply. The passer by happened to be a member of the WP congregation! It was LIFT magazine that helped persuade Anne and Gareth to stay. They say the magazine showed them what the people were like and they were impressed by the many community-centred activities the church was involved in.

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TONY KNIGHT

A KNIGHT’S Iain Litterick talks to Tony Knight Photo: Ash Binnie

By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home.

(Hebrews 11:8) Tony Knight, who has often led the worship at Windsor Park in recent months, was raised in a small coastal community in Cape Town. It was a place with a low crime rate, where as Tony puts it, they had “the least exposure to the negatives of South Africa.”

It was actually a quiet fishing village, with a beach centered lifestyle. And it was was here that Tony met his wife Claire and brought up their family – Deidra, Hannah and Liam.

Life was going well. Tony was the General Manager of a regional Telco, and Claire ran her own educational exercise business for children.

This was a business that Claire’s own children had inspired her to begin. One child had been hyperactive but low-toned, so needed structured exercise, while another learned kinesthetically and needed the release of physical exercise. So armed with both research and study, Claire combined brain gym, perceptual movement and old fashioned physical exercise in a fun and dynamic way, and called her business Kinetic Sport.

EMIGRATION

Work was going well for both Tony and Claire, but in the post apartheid era an emphasis on non-whites saw their daughter Deidra missing out on team selections, despite her ability.

This and the statistics of escalating violence concerned them.

In March 2007 Tony and Claire went to a seminar on the topic of immigration to New Zealand. Interestingly, Tony can’t remember the circumstances that led to this, neither the “who” nor the “why.” Afterwards they both talked and prayed about the matter before deciding to apply for immigration.

Tony smiles as he recollects that they hadn’t visited New Zealand, he didn’t have 22 LIFT MAGAZINE

JOURNEY

new life in New Zealand had begun.

“That to me shows we were on the right path,” says Tony, “even if I didn’t feel I knew what God’s purposes for us were.”

When Tony first arrived, by himself, he investigated a couple of churches but gravitated to Long Bay Baptist, who helped him with the assimilation. A friendly, welcoming atmosphere, and a fair few fellow South Africans who had made the same journey proved invaluable.

“They were my family away from home,” he says. “I still have strong friendships with them today.”

Now he runs his own consultancy business, with frequent trips to Australia and Asia Pacific – and as a passport-carrying Kiwi, he finds travel a lot easier.

While he might seem to have arrived at last, Tony still has the feeling that God has more in store for him and his For a few weeks things family, as he does for each one of us. seemed a bit bleak. Then, Claire has earned a postgraduate qualification in specialist teaching, unexpectedly, Tony received and currently works as an RTLB a call from Telstra Clear (Resource Teacher of Learning and who were interested in his Behavior) in Henderson. Her main focus is to help students to learn experience and knowledge. or to manage their behavior. Her After thirty minutes he was studies have spanned twelve years, alongside her role as a wife and offered a position. mother, and have culminated in four degrees. their chances of acceptance were slim. For a “I’ve spent many an early morning praying few weeks things seemed a bit bleak. Then, earnestly for God’s help, strength and grace unexpectedly, Tony received a call from Telstra to get through my studies,” she says, “and I Clear who were interested in his experience can testify that without God I wouldn’t have and knowledge. After thirty minutes he was survived the long hours and commitment offered a position. required. I have always felt it was his plan Tony recalls how the pace picked up after for me to work with students who have that. Quickly they sold their house, the cars, learning needs.” and Claire’s business.

Deidra is independent now, and the children enjoy being part of Windsor Park. Tony feels ASSIMILATION that being in New Zealand definitely has more Tony arrived on 1 September 2007, and the positives than negatives. family followed within three months. By As for his sporting allegiance – “the ABs all Christmas their container had arrived, and their the way – unless South Africa is playing!” a job lined up, and they didn’t know anyone in this country except for a vague distant acquaintance. However, they believed New Zealand would provide greater opportunities for the children and a better environment for them to grow up in.

At the time, Tony was both a worship leader and an elder at their local church.

During a discussion someone asked Tony if he felt God was leading them to go. Or was it just his own desire?

“How do you answer that one?” Tony grins.

The answer, as it turned out, was seen in the speed at which the next steps in the process happened, despite a global financial crisis, the lack of a prior visit, no contacts and no job offers.

They had applied to immigrate within eight weeks of attending the seminar, but the points system meant that without a definite job offer,

FEATURE

LIFT MAGAZINE 23

THEOSART

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THEOSART

The Art of Nicole Bennett Nicole used oil paints on canvas to produce her works. The square/rectangle was a recurring shape in all of her pieces, but there was still a strong organic theme.

In 2004 Nicole completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in ceramic sculpture. Through all of her paintings or sculptures there is a feeling of movement, and the simplicity of her work is used to great effect.

The base and inspiration for her work, which was displayed last June, was found in the Book of Romans: “We who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others.�

Each painting in this series was individual and unique, and yet they all fit together. They could stand alone or look great as a set.

Photographer: Danielle Mackay

LIFT MAGAZINE 25

LIFE WITH SAM BURROWS

TALL POPPIES BEWARE New Zealand likes to cut down its tall poppies.

It appears that I could be the only one here who is willing to rise above the toxic culture embedded in the soil of New Zealand and speak out. This is a calling I am happy to rise to, and so I have decided to write down these thoughts of mine in order to bestow my clarity upon the masses regarding “Tall Poppy Syndrome”.

As the non-official tenants of the rear end of the world, we Kiwis seem to possess an insecure pack mentality. This “Tall Poppy Syndrome” which (despite sounding like the name of an enthusiastic local “Battle of the Bands” entry) is a term meant to appeal to medical language to suggest we have a problem. To suggest that we aren’t quite right in the head.

Maybe it’s the fact that we are often forgotten in global conversation, which has perhaps set us on our quest, hell bent to “really put New Zealand on the map” by any means possible, whether it be through the extortion of our local Hobbit and wider Middle Earth populations, the deification of scrummaging Canterbury men or the need to constantly remind everyone that Russell Crowe is one of us.

It seems we won’t be stopped until the entire world is painted black and agrees to bow down in worship before billboards of half-naked Daniel Carter. Carter avoids the Tall Poppy trap for his consistent usage of “all credit to the boys” when paid a compliment about his efforts with ball in hand.

Maybe it’s the unavoidable reality that while Britain almost singlehandedly spread parliamentary democracy, birthed the industrial revolution and conquered a quarter of the world, and the US has sent people to the moon, given us Zac Efron and filled our lives with Disney memorabilia, New Zealand has yet to really launch. Although we’re pretty good at letting people use our bush and mountainous terrain for wide camera shots.

It is no surprise then that there was public outrage at the Danish Politician who described 26 LIFT MAGAZINE

of extreme class distinctions, class oppression and direct gentry rule.” He might be on to something, but he gets quoted everywhere and it’s probably gone to his head so don’t give him too much weight.

Cultural analyst Mark Sayers, who always seems to want to show everyone that he knows more than them (probably an Australian thing) says it stemmed from “the effect the Reformation had upon the way Protestant countries viewed authority and leadership.”

Good one, Mark. The Catholics already think they’re better than everyone else.

THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH

our unique culture as “uncivilised and grotesque,” obviously unaware of the way in which a powhiri discounts any danger of us becoming Australia’s poor cousin in the global arena. Yeah, well, she won’t be laughing when the world sees what cutting edge New Zealand journalism is capable of when Seven Sharp goes global.

We want to be taken seriously, but we want to be taken seriously as a nation. So there is really no room for certain bright sparks who want to succeed here on our home soil. What good will that do? None at all. Just annoy us with their “big fish in a little pond” selfassuredness. Thank goodness Kimbra exists.

BUT WHAT IS IT?

It’s not so much a resentment of the success of an individual, but an attitude than insists that all should be equal in every respect, and leaves no room for anyone to flaunt their achievements to others. Those who cannot adhere to this rule are exiled to the realm of try hards, Americans and Daniel Bedingfield.

Historian James Belich suggests that the syndrome emerged from New Zealand’s classless beginnings in which the gentry were “sheep farmers, merchants, financiers, officials and professionals. They seldom descended from tight aristocracy; they worked quite hard themselves” while maintaining “an absence

In our calling to redeem the world, the church needs to answer to this fallen aspect of our cultural psyche. We need to show the world that being better than other people is okay, that our God given destiny is to walk in victory, abundance and influence.

In fact, speaking of destiny, it’s great to see some of our big names like Brian Tamaki moving beyond Tall Poppy Syndrome and appointing themselves as bishops and apostles of the nation. The Kingdom of God is bigger and better than self deprecation. And it drives nice cars.

In fact, it would almost be irresponsible for us to allow ourselves to be victims of Tall Poppy Syndrome at all. We are the moral lighthouse of society, and without us taking the high ground, how are the heathens supposed to know how bad they are and then feel so bad about themselves that they turn to Jesus? The ultimate fate of every kiwi sinner depends on us making them look bad by parading our ethical successes for all to see.

If this isn’t the gospel then I don’t know what is.

Sam Burrows is an ex-Middle School teacher (he made it out alive) who is currently working in young adults ministry while completing a Graduate Diploma in Theology at Laidlaw College. In his spare time he likes to pretend to be a rock star and writes for enjoyment and in order to impress a potential wife.

Do you have a family member, or a close friend who is struggling with mental health issues?

Are you feeling alone and not sure how to get help for your family member?

Maybe Equip can help.

Equip is Windsor Park Baptist’s mental health service. It was established in the early 1990s as a Christian response to need in the community.

Today we support people who experience major mental health issues to get well again, live in a home of their choice, find work, make friends and live a life which has meaning and purpose for them.

We are very fortunate to have Marina Young working as our Family/ WhÄ nau Facilitator.

She is available to meet with families who support a loved one with a mental health issue.

She is very happy to meet you in your home or somewhere else if that is appropriate. It can be really tough for families and often difficult to know where to go for help and support. Marina would love to connect with you and help.

Please phone the Equip office on 477 0338 or email Marina at Marina.Young@equip.net.nz.

On any given week at Equip we work with over 300 individuals in the

Waitemata and Auckland DHB areas.

We employ around 70 staff. Late last year we opened the Totara Club on site here at Windsor Park. It is one of the first community based Dementia Day Care services that runs all day, five days per week.

Thank you to the many Windsor Park people who have come forward to Volunteer at Equip so that we can add value to the various services we provide. It is very much appreciated.

POEM

JAMES “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds...”

Well that seems impossible Lord.

I know You say it’s to do with perseverance but... my situation is too hard to bear I see the words “mature” and “complete” and You know, that’s my heart’s desire You tell me that I will receive the crown of life if I persevere I’m reminded that I must ask You for wisdom ‘cause You are generous.

Lord you encourage me at every step and I realise I can choose to be burdened or I can choose to consider it pure joy!

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by

Susie Johnston