MPA IN OUR COMMUNITITES

Northland

Jesus said,”...apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Cyclone Gabrielle delayed the start of our trip around Northland visiting small churches and sharing Maori Postal resources, but the Lord was waiting to open doors for us and blessed us with His love and care and fine weather wherever we went.

Our first stop at Moerewa was to see if our friends Dean and Ngārui Karaka might be around. They serve in an Iwi Trust which helps rehouse people but, ”by coincidence” they had been told not to come in that day so we had a good catch up.

When we reached Kaitaia we visited St

Saviour’s Anglican church. Rev. Dino Houtas took calendars to share at a regional hui taking place the following Sunday. The people at the Saturday market were also keen to receive the calendars and children’s magazines. Our friend Hope and her friends have MPA materials on their stand each week.

Our next stop was at Totara North where Mike and Janet Fleming run several programmes for tamariki and rangatahi using MPA resources. While there we met another lady who took resources to share with the chaplains at Ngawha Prison.

At Kerikeri the Lord led us to the Baptist church and Sarah Angus who is involved in the King’s Daughters ministry. She was very pleased to learn about MPA resources, and took samples to share with other Te Tai Tokerau ministry leaders.

In Whangarei we attended Raumati Crescent Chapel and God also took us to Te Karaiti Te Aranga Anglican church in Kamo. They were hosting a hui for people training for Christian service and were very interested in the resources, particularly Te Tino Korero comics, posters and childrens resources.

In Dargaville we visited Warwick and Paula Savage who often promote MPA. Paula has a stall at the local market selling hand-crafted cards and giving away MPA literature, and at Matariki they have a stand for MPA.

Our last visit was to Ellerslie Bible Chapel where we meet Joe and Lorraine Heta, and shared childrens resources with them.

We are so thankful to God that He led us to new people who were keen to learn about the work of MPA. We pray they will use the resources to reach many whānau with the aroha of the Lord and to His glory.

- Liz Silcock

That comes from the Bible?

Everyday expressions you MAY NOT know come from the paipera tapu.

“The blind leading the blind”

“Ki te arahina te matapo e te matapo, ka taka tahi raua ki te waikeri.” Matiu 15:14

“If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 15:14

If you were completely matapō , would you allow another matapō person to guide you? That person may assure you he knows the way and can find the way, but you would be heahea to trust him.

We may be able to see well and yet we can be matapō in other ways; for instance, being matapō to the truth. Social media is full of information and opinions which may or may not be pono. We should check out the facts before we accept it as pono.

The same applies when we are looking for spiritual truth. A person may appear to be sincere but they could be wrong, and to follow what they teach could lead us away from the pono that Ihowā reveals to us through His kupu, the Paipera Tapu and His Tama, Ihu Karaiti.

"Ka mea a Īhu ki a ia, 'Ko ahau te huarahi, te pono, te ora; e kore rawa tētahi tangata e haere ake ki te Matua, ki te kāhore ahau.'"

Hoani 14:6.

If we are walking in spiritual darkness, we can trust that Jesus will lead us safely into the light of ora tonu.

Bay OF PLENTY

I am a voluntary Community Chaplain in the Bay of Plenty. I started a facebook page under the name of Chaplain Maree as a means of outreach into the Community after moving here from Auckland two years ago. The chaplaincy side of things is ticking along, but not knowing anybody here (and after praying that the Lord would open up doors to outreach) I saw an advertisement for Jesus Reigns NZ on a local facebook community page.

Every Saturday from 12pm to 1:30pm a team of volunteers from different churches meet together in a Tauranga park to worship, pray, give testimonies, hand out tracts, chat with and pray for people in the park.

The team usually set up in either Memorial Park or the StrandDowntown Tauranga, and if wet in a local school that has cover. The set up is in a park beside a childrens playground, as many parents bring their kids to play, and have family picnics. Outreach is every Saturday of the year.

This year the team went to Auckland for a week, and more recently Tokoroa - at the request of Disciples of Christ.

In Tokoroa thirty youth made a decision for the Lord. Due to this, and also recently leading a couple of Maori Mums to the Lord, the Lord put on my heart to reach out to Maori Postal Aotearoa for tracts, Bible studies, and the marvellous resources they have in both Te Reo and English.

We’ve had some wonderful conversations with people in the parksome just having a korero about life in general, and others have an interest in knowing more about Jesus. Either way, it's a real privilege listening to people and sowing seeds for God's kingdom.

A recent testimony is of a man I used to see sitting in his car with his window wound down, listening to the worship in the park. I decided to ask him if he would like to join us, after giving him a tract. This middle aged man said he was too shy to get out of his car, but after some gentle encouragement he came and stood at the back with us. Since this time he joins with us each week, and recently made a decision for the Lord.

This Ministry is vital in reaching those in the park, who might not venture into a church - for one reason or another.

On making a decision for salvation, each new Christian receives a Bible and a New Christian booklet containing foundations of the Christian faith. We encourage new Christians to attend a local church, and will go with them if they would like. We also follow them up to see how they are doing. Every week we hand out dozens of tracts.

The Lord is moving in our beautiful land, and we have seen quite a number come to the Lord in Tauranga lately. In the last month or so there have been sixteen decisions for the Lord that I know of - there may have been more...

In the photo to the right you will see a young man being baptised in the fountain at the park by two of our team. This young man was at the skate ramp when he heard the worship music, came and listened, and felt led to make a decision for salvation, and be water baptised.

Saturdays outreach remains the highlight of my week!

“Nā, me pēhea tā rātou karanga ki a ia, ki te kāhore i whakapono ki a ia? Me pēhea hoki tā rātou whakapono ki a ia? Me pēhea hoki e rongo ai, ki te kāhore he kaikauwhau?” Rōma 10:14

“How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them?” Romans 10:14

- Maree