OWEN POMANA - FROM HOPELESS TO HOPEFUL! P14
ROGER’S STORY P8
DANGER OF IDLENESS P4
TUPU WHAKARANGI OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF MAORI POSTAL AOTEAROA WWW.MAORIPOSTAL.CO.NZ
ISSUE 231
CONTENTS 04 DANGER OF IDLENESS
08 ROGER’S STORY
18 FROM PERSECUTOR TO BELIEVER
19 COMMENTARIES
14 OWEN POMANA.
20 EMBERS.
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PEOPLE OF THE LAND
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EDITORIAL EDITOR: GRAHAM BATSON DESIGN: TEREYA DOWERS MAIL: PO BOX 10, WHANGANUI EMAIL: INFO.MAORIPOSTAL@GMAIL.COM
WWW.MAORIPOSTAL.CO.NZ
DANGER OF IDLENESS Tuhinga o mua Read in your Bible 2 Samuel chapter 11
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Engari he mea whaka-matautau te tangata, i a ia e kumea ana, e poaina ana e tona hiahia ako ano. Na, i te haputanga o te hiahia ka whanau ko te hara; a, i te otinga o te hara, ka whanau ko te mate (Hemi 1:14-15). King David had decided to take some time out. This was his first problem because it was at a time when he should have been busy. He should have been leading his army into battle against Israel’s enemies, but he decided Joab could do the job and he would stay home in his palace. Now there’s nothing wrong with having time out. We all need periods of rest, but it should not be at the expense of our responsibilities. One evening David arose from his bed and decided to take a stroll in the cool evening air on the roof of his palace. From his position on the roof he spied a woman taking a bath – and she was very beautiful. His
David’s prolonged look was one of sexual lust. Sin begins in our minds and this is why it is important to be careful what we allow our minds to dwell on. James warns us, “Each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:14-15). David’s sin did not just remain in his mind; it led to action. He sent messengers to find out about the woman. He found that her name was Bathsheba and that she was married to Uriah who was away on the battlefield where David should have been. Now you would expect that with a man of David’s calibre that would have been enough. After all, she was married to another man and he was in the army under David’s command. But amazingly it wasn’t enough! Which goes to show none of us are immune from the most grievous sin if we allow ourselves to get into a wrong situation. David sent for her and “slept” with her. This
was indeed a very serious problem but worse was yet to come. You see, when we leave God out of the picture and start on an evil course it eventually spirals out of control. Our prisons are full of people who can testify to this. A short time afterwards the woman sent a message to David informing him that she was pregnant. Now he finally realised he had a problem. He saw a scandal in the making. What could he do about it? Well, if you’re not going to confess your sin to God and seek His guidance, then you’re going to use your own resources to try to cover your tracks – and this is exactly what David did. He sent a message to the battlefield for Uriah to be brought to him. When he arrived David made small talk, asking him about Joab and how the war was going. Then he sent him off to his own home along with a gift to be with his wife, feeling reasonably confident that the child conceived in Bathsheba’s womb would be attributable to her own husband. But his plans went astray: Uriah didn’t go home. He slept at the entrance to the palace with the servants. On discovering this rather disturbing turn of events, David asked him, “Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home to your wife?” Uriah’s reply, although respectful of the king, was nonetheless a
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first look may not have been too much of a problem. After all, you can’t help seeing things. It was the fact that he kept on looking that was his next problem. There’s an old saying that goes like this: “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair!”
timely rebuke, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and your men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as I live I will not do such a thing?” Now David was in a real fix! Things were seriously beginning to unravel for him! He had gotten this man’s wife pregnant and the man had proved much more honourable than he. Surely it was time to confess and get the thing sorted out. But no; he continued on his downward spiral.
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He wrote a letter to Joab and sent Uriah back to the battlefield to deliver it. Uriah did not realise he was carrying his own death warrant! “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and die!” First it was lust, then it was adultery, and now it had become murder! Afterwards Joab sent an account of the battle to David, describing their casualties, including Uriah, as well as their victories. David replied with consoling words to Joab telling him not to blame himself. But underneath he was greatly relieved because now that Uriah was dead he was free to take Bathsheba as his wife and no one would be aware of what had really transpired.
But God knew. We only fool ourselves if we think God does not know even the smallest details of our life -- those things we would not dare share with anyone else. God knows -- and we will not avoid Him. David didn’t! (Read Psalm 139:112). If there is such a thing as an understatement in Scripture, the last sentence of 1 Samuel, chapter 11, must be it, “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord”. God sent a messenger to confront David. When Nathan the prophet came to David he told him a story. It was about two men, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had a large flock of sheep and cattle. But the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb that was his pet. He raised it; it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and even slept with him. It happened that the rich man had an important visitor arrive, but instead of taking one of the many lambs he had to prepare a meal for his visitor, he took the poor man’s lamb! David was outraged! “Who did this evil thing?” he shouted. “As surely as the Lord lives, this man deserves to die!” Then came the prophet’s condemning answer, “You are the man!” “Ko koe te tangata!” He went on to remind David how that God had made him king after delivering him from Saul who would have killed him and had
It was then that David woke up to the enormity of his actions: “I have sinned against the Lord!” Despite the gravity of his sin, his was indeed a heartfelt cry of repentance. If only he could have had those few minutes of idleness on his palace roof to live over again! How different things could have been. But it was too late, and now he must suffer the consequences. In response to David’s genuine repentance, Nathan made another remarkable statement, “The Lord has taken your sin away!” “Kua tangohia e Ihowa to koutou hara!” We may well ask, “How could this be?” David had committed lust, adultery and murder. How could God just forgive him of such sin just like that? From David’s time, before the Lord Jesus came to earth, God, who dwells in eternity, looked forward in time and saw His Son, the Lord
Jesus, dying on a Roman cross outside the city of Jerusalem to take the punishment for our sin. Today we look back to the cross. The Bible tells us, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God says of those who truly repent of their sin and receive Jesus as Saviour, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). God forgave David of his sin, although David still had some consequences to suffer because of his actions. But God was able to give him the wisdom and strength to face those consequences and to live a life for God in harmony with His Word. Read Psalm 51. It is the Psalm of David’s repentance. Look at verse 4. David came to realise that although he had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, and the nation of Israel, his sin was ultimately against God. We too must realise our sin is against God. It is His commands we have broken. But just like David, He will forgive and cleanse us because of what the Lord Jesus has done for us, if we truly turn to Him in repentance. -- Editor. .
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given him everything he wanted including the household of the deceased Saul. And if that had not been enough He would have given him even more. But despite this David had rejected the Word of the Lord, committed adultery with Bathsheba, had her husband killed and took Bathsheba for himself. Nathan told David he would suffer the consequences of his sin in his own family.
Roger and wife, Gaylene, beside the bus Roger drives between Levin and Wellington.
ROGER’S STORY ROGER KUSABS shares his story with the editor I was born in Rotorua in 1942 during the 2nd WW and remember quite distinctly the post war years as being one of hardship for almost all New Zealanders including our family. Dad never went to war not because he was a conscientious objector but simply because he had too many children, there were 5 of us, my twin brother Willie and I being the youngest. Our dad tried enlisting 3 times and even went over to Gisborne to try his luck there, but they soon found out about his 5 children and he was sent packing back to Rotorua where he joined the Home Guard. We sometimes wonder what would have happened to us had dad gone off to the war.
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Our home was next to the Rotorua Racecourse where a great number of American GI’s were camped most of them there on furlough or recovering from injuries. This caused a lot of jealousy amongst the locals and I’m sure our parents had their misgivings about their presence especially with their flashy uniforms and pockets full of American dollars. Not long after my twin brother and I were born, mum and dad separated, and it left our dad with the unenviable task of raising 5 “active” children on his own whose ages ranged from 9 years down to my twin brother and I at just over 1. Earning a keep wasn’t easy for all New Zealanders so dad had to go where the work was and this took him away from home for long periods
Our dad was pretty much at wits end trying to cope with raising 5 children on his own plus having to work to put food on the table. I can remember dad telling us once that he was walking past the Eruera Street Gospel Hall when he heard this hymn being sung, “What a friend we have in Jesus”. The words had a huge effect on him and as time went by he started attending this church and later accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.
Charlie and his wife left not long after we arrived, and our next “parents” were Gil & Eve Pritchard along with their 3 children. They were a truly lovely and caring couple who had the mammoth task of looking after between 20 to 30 children ranging in age from 1 (me & my twin brother) to young adults, an amazing feat considering they had their own family to raise also.
Things at home never improved much, however. One day one of the elders heard about dad’s dilemma and told him that there was a Children’s Home in Marton run by the Brethren Church that might be able to help in taking care of the children until dad sorted things out back home. Dad made enquiries and before long three of us siblings were off to
At that time the “Home” was run by Charlie Johnson and his wife along with a number of dedicated souls. I remember two ladies, in particular, Sybil Hyde and another lovely, Christian lady, Aunty Mary (nee Feasey) who was pretty much our substitute mother, a truly lovely Christian women.
I can distinctly remember the Bible being an important part of our daily lives. Every morning before breakfast and every night after tea the Bible was read and going to church on Sunday was top of the list for every child. We loved Sunday School, especially listening to the stories of those great Biblical heros like Samson, Moses, Joseph and Ruth. They were exciting stories and we couldn’t get enough of them. We even played out some of those characters exploits like Samson. But we couldn’t find any lions so we used
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our new home in Marton where our eldest sister, my twin and I stayed for the next 10 years. Our older brother joined us three years later along with our youngest sister.
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of time. At one stage he was working in Foxton and Shannon cutting and selling flax, a thriving industry during the war years. Trouble was, he had 5 children back in Rotorua to take care of. No such thing as childcare centres in those post war years so dad enlisted the help of a number of relatives and associates to take care of us. This proved too much for all of them and one day he came home from work to find our carer gone and my twin brother and I sitting in the middle of the main street of Rotorua holding up traffic.
the farm bull -- and some of the older boys got up to mischief concerning our poor bull. Looking back on those years spent in the Home, I truly believe it prepared us for life in more ways than one. All my siblings did well in life. I was probably the least successful having left school in my second year of fifth form which pleased my teachers no end but caused pain for my dad as he was hoping I would go on to greater things. Around 1952-ish our dad was finally able to bring us all back home to Rotorua. He had secured a good job as a saw-mill manager and along with the job came a free home. We loved it there. It was only about 8kms out of town but it felt like we were well away from civilization and could get up to all the mischief our little hands could find.
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It must have been hard for dad but at least we were a family again. To give dad a break, every school holidays he shipped us out to our uncle’s farm where we relished living the farming life. Our cousins were our age and we had a ball. It was a struggle for dad to get us back home. As we got older dad enrolled us in Every Boys Rally and I believe that was the turning point in mine and my brother’s lives. We loved Rally especially the games we played and the badges we could get. As a matter of fact, we both had so many badges we couldn’t fit any more on our sleeves.
The Rally camps at Mt Maunganui were definitely the highlight of our year. There must have been over a 100 kids from all over central New Zealand attending -- it was great, we loved it. It was at one of these camps that my brother and I accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Twins have a special bond and what one twin did the other would not be far behind. I can remember the sermons from camp quite vividly; all fire and brimstone stuff which today would be classed as highly objectionable, but for two, young, naive Maori boys, it was what we both needed, and it sure had an effect on us which was all for the better. Like Israel Falou says, hell is a place for those who do not repent, and this made me think very seriously about where I would end up if I continued down the path I was on. I can even remember the Rally leader who led me to the Lord. Keith Faulkner a lovely Christian man who was our Rally leader back in Rotorua. Now I want to emphasis this point, we were not “frightened” into our decision by all the hell-raising sermons; it was very personal and a very emotional experience. It hasn’t been all peaches and cream though. There are times when I fail and that frustrates me but that’s all part of the journey. Paul knew that more than anyone, and in his letter to the Roman Christians he says, “For what I want to do I don’t do, but what I hate I do.”
God knows our hearts and He knows our struggles. You only have to read Psalm 139 to know that we can’t hide anything from Him. He is the omniscient GOD, the all-knowing One. School I loved but it was more for the sport than the academic side. My other siblings were the academics of the family. However, I did manage to stay at college for 4 years. Lazing around home didn’t thrill my dad much so he got me into an apprenticeship. Initially I hated it but once the pay cheques started coming in that soon changed. As a fit young fella who loved competition, I started playing rugby and played it for over 20 years. I would have played every day if I could have but along with the rugby came the peer pressure -- the drinking, smoking, etc, stuff a young Christian shouldn’t be doing but hey,
Later on I met my beautiful wife Gayleene and we had 3 strapping boys. Church was the furtherest thing from my mind for the next 10 years or so. We had since moved from Rotorua to Levin where I secured a job at Hokio Beach School teaching young teenagers. These boys were sent to this Social Welfare Institution by the Courts for various offences, a sort of Borstal without the barb-wire fences. It was while I was at Hokio that I rededicated my life back to the Lord after being away from Him for all those years. I’m convinced that moving to Levin was Spirit led because although I was still in the world, there was always this niggling feeling that I needed to return to my faith. I left Christ but Christ never left me. One day while at home on my own, one of the boys’ mates and a friend came looking for my boys. They told me they were from Queen Street Chapel and were here to invite the boys to their evening church service. This blew me away because for a long time I was trying to find the courage to go back to church and here were these two guys with an invitation to attend a church service! When they told me they were from a Brethren church in Levin I was convinced that God had sent them
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no-one was going to tell me any different.
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It’s a tough battle and as Paul reminds us, it’s not easy. We just have to put our trust in Christ Jesus to keep us on the right track. I’ve found reading Scripture daily is a good way of keeping on track. David, in Psalm 32, vs 1 – 2 says, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit”, something that we need to be reminded of continuously. Christians are a blessed people, saved by grace alone. Thank you, Lord Jesus!
to invite me so I accepted their invitation and went along to their service. Now I was truly expecting a spirit-filled experience, but I felt absolutely nothing spiritually. I went home quite disappointed but at least I had finally got to church. Not deterred I decided to give it one more go and went to the next week’s Sunday morning service.
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A well-known speaker was speaking and his whole sermon was pointed directly at me, right down to the back-sliding. After his sermon he made an appeal for anyone who wanted to talk to him to have a seat at the back and he would come and talk to them. I gingerly sat at the back waiting, but no-one came. I could see the preacher out the back chatting away while sipping his cup of tea. I was about to leave and feeling a wee bit disappointed when this Maori chap came over and invited me to have a cuppa with him. I told him I was waiting for the speaker as I wanted to speak to him. Well this guy shot off like a bullet and I could see him talking to the speaker. It was quite funny because he just about choked on his biscuit and was looking very embarrassed. After a truck load of apologies, he led me in prayer and I re-dedicated my life back to the Lord. What a relief! Words cannot describe the joy I had in my heart. Now I know how the prodigal son felt. I am now happily attending York St chapel in Levin with a group of truly wonderful Christian people.
One of the things I have learnt over the years is that the devil never quits, but the good news is, nor does God and better still, He will have the final victory, Amen. One of my favourite passages in the Bible is found in Romans chapter 8 vs 35 through to 39, where it tells us that we are secure in Christ. Nothing can take us away from His love – nothing:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, shall strife, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, for thy sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we are overwhelmingly conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If you are a Christian, you are signed and sealed for eternity. If you are not a Christian, you need to receive Christ today! It is the most important decision you will ever make.
BOTTOM: Albert McAndrew’s 90th Birthday, February 12, 2019, at Mission Hall, Gladstone Road, Gisborne. Albert with his late wife, Huka, were MPA leaders in the Gisborne district for many years.
TOP: Hui Moon’s 90th Birthday, April 27th, 2019, at Te Aroha Marae, Parakao, Northland. Hui and his wife Alice were MPA leaders in Whanganui in the late 1960’s. He was a member of the MPSS Business Committee at that time.
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TWO FAITHFUL SERVANTS OF GOD
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POMANA
OWEN
O LONGER MESSED UP!
Owen Pomana knows what it is like to be homeless and wants to create a culture of love and generosity for the needy. He says, “If people can see what love looks like, you know, just to be compassionate, come out and say “Hello” to someone, or give them a word of encouragement, it’s a big thing”.
“GOD IF YOU ARE REAL, HELP ME!. The Ngati Kahungunu descendant was brought up in Hawkes Bay as part of a loving family. When his father passed away he left high school and joined the Royal NZ Navy. After spending seven and a half years in the Navy he found “the love of his life” who later betrayed him. This relationship breakdown led him into a state of deep depression, so he decided to leave New Zealand with only $500, a bag of clothes and a one way plane ticket to Kings Cross, Australia. Within a week he found himself homeless, living on a park bench with a cardboard box
He says, “My life had started to become a series of nightmares and I was making unwise decisions to survive. I was offered a job while travelling in a car with a bouncer from Kings Cross. He handed me a 12 gauge shotgun and a balaclava in a green army canvas bag. That was my introduction into the dark side of underworld debt collection and series of armed robberies. I would find myself constantly on the run from police. Australia for me was a dark chapter of my life. I was constantly in and out of court, facing jail or fighting bike gangs. Once I was beaten and bashed by five Hells Angels men and admitted to hospital with serious injuries. When I got out of hospital I planned a revenge attack. I was going to get some C4 explosives, grenades and high powered weapons, get high on drugs and go waste them all. I now had major problems. I went down to the beach with a .45 calibre hand gun in my pocket, smashed on methamphetamine, to have a conversation with the God of the universe that I didn’t know. “God, if you are real, help me. I don’t want to die at the hands of evil men. I’ll give this bad life away and serve You”.
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to shield himself and a newspaper to keep him warm. He wandered the streets in search of food and a job, but was too ashamed to ask for help.
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Do you know that God hears prayer? When I went to sit down I tripped over a stick which looked like a shepherd’s crook, and I felt something in the back pocket of my shorts. When I pulled it out it was a Gideon’s Bible that my friend had given me. He had become a Christian and said, “You are going to need this one day, bro”. I said, “I don’t need this, bro”. Then I said to God “I am just going to open this to a page. Can you talk to me?” It opened to Psalm 23 – “The Lord’s my shepherd, I shall not want …….”. God heard my prayer and I made a vow to serve Him. He is faithful and He had a plan for my life. He sent a man to speak to me by the name of Pastor Ken Berghan. My friend had told him about my life and he wanted to come and speak with me. I will never forget that encounter. A 70-year-old pastor who came to tell me about Jesus! I thought he was crazy. I never really understood the language he was speaking and he didn’t want to come inside and smoke methamphetamine. He continued to pursue me over the weeks, ringing and sending texts inviting me to church. I didn’t want to go to church. He sent his Christian friends to support me at the District Court. I thought they were as crazy as him. One day he said he wanted to take me to a special place and I was thinking what night club or strip joint did he want to go to? I thought he wanted
to go for a drink and watch the girls swing around the pole at the strip club. However, he took me to a park that was full of homeless people. I asked why we were there, and he said, “I wanted to show you what my wife and I do for God. We come here every week to find the lost and broken hearted”. He continued, “Do you know anything about Jesus? He is love”. Right there in that moment I saw a vision of my messed up life and I felt so much shame and condemnation.
Pastor Ken asked, “Owen, do you have peace in your life?” I answered, “I have never had peace since coming to Australia. All my friends are locked in prison, dead or on drugs. I don’t really have any friends. Can you help me?” He replied, “I want to speak the truth in love to you. Don’t be offended but you are a drug addict, and have many problems and you are probably going back to prison again”. It was all true. I was messed up and needed help.
Pastor Ken gave me a Bible to read, but I couldn’t understand the words as it was a King James version. So he gave me a picture Bible. I got anxious when the pictures changed and Jesus was getting a
He then asked, “Why are you so angry? Would you like to sit and tell me what’s happened in your life since you are so bitter?” I answered, “I don’t trust anybody, and anyway my heart is too dark to tell you what’s going on in there”. He then said he would ask me three questions and see if I could answer them. 1. Is God holy? “Yes”. 2. Is God love? “Do you think God would love someone like me?” 3. Can God forgive? “Could God truly forgive me for the things I have done?” I thought it would be easier for me to remain in the darkness than to fail all the time trying to please God who is Holy, and who I didn’t believe could love and forgive me. I proceeded to share my broken heart of bitterness and rejection, and the many troubles in my life. He was awesome. He did
I didn’t receive Jesus there and then. It was a process, and after a couple of weeks I received Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I was born again. I knew then that God loved me Now I had to decide whether to lie in court to avoid jail or tell the truth and go to jail for a very long time. In a vision Jesus stood before me and said, “You will deny Me tomorrow”. I said, “I won’t deny You, so I will plead guilty”. My lawyers thought I was still on methamphetamine and told me I would go to jail for 12-15 years. They pressured me and said, “We know you’ve become a Christian, but surely you don’t want to go to jail?” I said, “I didn’t say I wanted to go to jail but I want to go to the Kingdom of Heaven”. The barrister said, “You have truly lost the plot and you are out of your mind”. After pleading guilty to armed robbery charges I was given a 5 year sentence and released after one and a half years. I was about to serve God in a Queensland prison. I led 81 men to Christ in Queensland prisons and I saw many miracles. In 2009 I was released from prison and escorted back to New Zealand by the Federal Police. I was given a life-time ban from ever going back to Australia.
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not offer any advice, but sat there and cried and gave me a hug.
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beating. I asked for an explanation about the nails in His hands and feet and the crown of thorns on His head, and how could someone forgive the people for doing that? I then shared with him about the beating I had been given by the Hells Angels, and how I wanted to blow them all up and take my own life too. He asked if I had forgiveness for them and I told him “Not really”.
I am honoured and humbled to know God can reach even the most messed up person like me, and can take you from the gutter of the streets to send you anywhere in the nations. I have seen and met amazing people in ministry around the world who serve God with all their heart. They are humble and have so much love for people. I have ministered to poor, rich and slaves, and in places like Iraq, Pakistan Thailand and Japan. I know and have experienced most of the problems these people are going through, and if my life story
brings hope I will continue to pursue it until I die.” Owen says he doesn’t want to be remembered for being a drug addict or armed robber who was bitter and angry. But after twelve years his life took a turn when he gave his heart to Jesus and he realised that there was forgiveness and restoration. Is your life messed up? What God has done for Owen, He can do for you.
FROM PERSECUTOR TO BELIEVER! Barnabas Magazine. A cow played an unlikely role in the life of Rena, who turned from being a persecutor of Christians to being a follower of Christ in a town in Azerbaijan, a nation which is 96% Muslim. Rena now attends a growing church. She shared her testimony with a local Barnabas Fund contact.
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Rena was furious that her sister and mother had become Christians and she scorned and screamed at them, “Will you shame us among people? Maybe you will even put a cross on your house!” Her mother simply held out the New Testament and said, “If you knew about this Book, you’d want to read it.” One day Rena lost her cow and spent three days searching in vain for the animal. She said that on the third day, she thought, “They say Jesus Christ is alive. If this is true, let my cow return to me and I will believe in Him. When it got dark we went along the road and in the lights from cars I saw something running towards us. It was my cow! Then I said, ‘Lord, I believe that You are Truth’ and when I came back to my courtyard with the cow I said, ‘My cow has been found and Jesus Christ made it happen!’ From that day I am a Christian and am following Jesus!”
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We all have things buried deep inside, A burning ember we are trying to hide; But the problem begins when we play with that fire, The embers turn to flames and start burning brighter. Then the fear comes, of being discovered, Your flame is so big it can no longer be covered; You laugh and you smile to try to water it down – You laugh so much you think you might drown; Then someone’s fire touches yours, Your insides crackle and your fire roars, Flames start flying, no longer contained, And all those involved go from hurting to maimed. You look at your burns, and you brokenly whisper, “That was my brother, that was my sister, Why did I do it? Why did I surrender? How did this happen? It was only an ember!” Vanessa Vattiprolu
From Christians for Israel, October 2018 By Sheree Trotter, who with her husband Perry, founded Shadows of Shoah, a unique Holocaust exhibition.
The Aotearoa-Israel Powhiri held at the Hoani Waititi Marae in Auckland, was a reminder of the historically warm relationship between Maori and Jew. In the early 19th century, Jewish traders arrived and quickly developed friendships with the indigenous people. On an individual level this continued throughout
the 20th century, resulting in shared initiatives such as language revitalisation and experiments in communal living. However, the recent powhiri for the ambassador is one of few corporate events bringing together Maori and Israel. Very early in New Zealand’s history, the similarity between Maori and Jewish customs and practices were noted. Well known missionary, Samuel Marsden, drew up a list of comparisons between the two peoples. While early theories that
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People of the Book – People of the Land
Maori were one of the ‘lost tribes of Israel’ were debunked, there is no doubting the many similarities between Maori and the Jews as indigenous peoples. Foremost among the characteristics of indigenous people (according to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) is the connection to ancestral land. Land and ‘whakapapa’ are two key elements in the Maori world view, as with the Jewish people. While the Jews are called ‘the people of the Book’, Maori are known as ‘tangata whenua’ – ‘the people of the land’. This appellation manifests itself in the way Maori identify themselves in formal settings. The mountain, the river or sea, the tribe, are all cited as means of identifying who one is and where one belongs. This is the ‘turangawaewae’, literally, ‘the place for the feet to stand’. This is where one has rights and place of residence through kinship and ‘whakapapa’. It conveys the idea of belonging.
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When life’s journey is over, the Maori custom is to return to the place of their ancestors for burial. The integration of Maori thought is revealed in ‘Te Reo Maori’. ‘Iwi’ is the word for tribe as well as bones, just as ‘whenua’ is the word for both the land and placenta. (It is a custom to bury a baby’s placenta in a place of significance).
In like manner the Bible speaks of Abraham being gathered to his people and he was buried with his wife, Sarah, in Macpelah (Hebron). The Bible also records Jacob also being buried in Macpelah with his ancestors, and when Joseph died in Egypt, he requested that his bones be returned to the land of his forefathers. This was accomplished in the time of Joshua. It is not difficult to see the parallels in Maori and Jewish thinking. Jews hold a deep connection to the land promised to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When they were exiled to Babylon, the remembrance of Zion brought weeping. Jews have lived in the diaspora for much of their history, and yet, for millennia the longing for a return to Zion has been sustained and expressed in their daily prayers and yearly festivals. In the Maori world view, the continual presence, called ‘ahi kaa’ (or keeping the fires burning) on a piece of territory gives that tribe ‘mana whenua’ or authority over the land. In similar fashion Jews have always had a presence in the land of Israel, even though the majority were exiled. From a Maori indigenous perspective, this gives a right or ownership to the land. No matter where a Maori person lives, ‘going home’ means returning to their
While Maori practices have a long tradition, modern times have seen adaption to change. Most marae are connected to a particular place and people. However, Hoani Waititi Marae was the first intertribal urban marae designed to meet the needs of urban Maori living away from their tribal area.
Every marae will host visitors from other areas, but it was fitting that the ‘tangata whenua’ of Hoani Waititi were joined from Maori from around Aotearoa (nga hau e wha – the four winds) to welcome Israel’s ambassador and the Jewish community for the Aotearoa – Israel Powhiri. It is hoped that this historic event will set a precedent of continued friendship between Maori and Israel, and will perhaps lead the way for New Zealand to restore its former friendly relationship with Israel.
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‘turangawaewae’. The desire of the Jews to return to Zion, to their place of belonging and to be in the land of their ancestors is, likewise, the natural longing of indigenous peoples.
Tena Koutou Katoa
Anei Nga Korero Pai
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