December 2012
2012
has been a year of massive innovation and change for Promise Keepers. We have seen the greatest revitalisation, re-energising and re-engineering in our history. We can now report to our supporters that the results have exceeded our expectations. Our goal of “transforming men” continues to be worked out very effectively. Thank you for standing with us during this time of transition. We are now doing detailed planning for next year as part of working through our five year goals. This vision includes:
› Seeing transformed men reach out to transform other men › Reaching other ethnicities more effectively › Being more active, both in New Zealand and overseas, as opportunities arise
The goals for the future have come as a result of seeking God, and these continue to be refined by our Board with input from men with proven expertise in goal-setting and leadership. Now, as the year wraps up, we can look back and see the trends that have occurred during the year:
› The team has
dealt with many unknowns as we have undertaken new initiatives and a huge reformatting of Events. This has taken a lot of time and effort to achieve and the fantastic results reflect prayerful and meticulous planning.
› The men at
the Break Free Events were generally well engaged and involved. The new format called for lots of discussion, prayer and processing in small groups. These went very well.
› Great feedback has been received about the new Event format rolled out at Break Free and new initiatives such
as the Tama Tane Malosi Samoan Event. You can read some of the hundreds of comments on our website!
› The main Events this year have come in within budget,
praise God! A lot of effort went into costing, but of course income is variable based on attendance. Attendance this year has been solid and not changed greatly from last year. We are planning to build on this for next year.
› You, our supporters, who are giving general
donations or donating towards WiseChoices, have been very faithful despite the difficult economic situation. Donations have held up well in the circumstances, for which the team is very grateful.
› The number of men involved in the WiseChoices program
remains steady. It is very important to have as many men on board with WiseChoices as possible. Firstly, we want as many men as possible to benefit from the excellent resources. Secondly, there is a fixed cost component that needs a good baseline of support to cover, so the more men involved the better.
Break Free Events These are our flagship Events. The results this year, as described above, have been excellent! We expect the momentum created this year to build for future Events. Men describe the quality of the Events as being very high. It was very powerful being able to show video clips of Allan Meyer and David Murrow, then interacting with them via Skype from Australia and Alaska.
Transforming men!
As well as rolling out the new format, in Auckland we had to adapt to the first time in a new venue. The church hosting us was very supportive and a pleasure to work with. It was good to be able to bless them by hiring their facility. Some men were concerned about issues such as finding parking. Everyone was able to find free parking, either onsite or in surrounding streets. We had volunteers directing them to streets without parking restrictions. In contrast, at the previous venue there was a charge for parking. We were very pleased with the way the venue worked out and we are looking forward to being there again next year.
It was a huge success and in some ways, broke new ground. The platform of Promise Keepers was able to bring disparate churches together without an agenda. Lui developed a program that was removed from the traditional church feel, and was truly a Samoan Men’s Event. For the team in the office, it was quite challenging working with material in Samoan, so we got a better understanding of how other language groups feel when having to work in English! Tama Tane Malosi has pioneered a template that could be used for future Events in other languages, such as Korean, Afrikaans or Tongan.
Ministry with Men Webinars
Refreshed & Released Pastors’ Conferences
Over 30 churches have been involved so far in these new webinars. This training methodology is cutting edge. Being able to connect with groups nationwide and interact with them via Skype and the chat function has really brought the training to life.
The conferences so far have had a very personal feel as the pastors have come together in small groups.
If you desire to see greater effectiveness in the Men’s Ministry of your church, then sign up for the next series of webinars starting 12 March 2013. By getting a group of keen men to go through the webinar together, most of them “get it” and a lot of energy and momentum is created by everyone learning together and being on the same page.
Tama Tane Malosi Samoan Event
Pastor Geoff Wiklund has brought his own touch to these pastors’ conferences. He is focused on personal ministry to pastors as well as encouraging them with ideas and strategies to be more effective in their churches.
WiseChoices Many of you are subscribers to WiseChoices and donate to support it. You are familiar with the resources that are part of it. It is a pleasure for the team to be involved in putting WiseChoices together and getting it out to over 1,100 men each month. We get a lot of positive feedback about the Men of Integrity booklets. This year has seen us make regular donations of these booklets to prison chaplains. We have started a program where people can donate to support this initiative. The WiseChoices DVDs are where a lot of our input goes. Over the years we have added to the range and quantity of material on the DVDs. They really are a feature-rich resource. This year we have added up to five MP3 audios on each DVD with a range of top speakers, as well as the featured speaker on video. By developing resources for WiseChoices, more material is available for other channels within Promise Keepers. We often find that WiseChoices spearheads new initiatives and d e ve l o p m e n t s within Promise Keepers.
While we have always had a large number of Samoans involved in all aspects of Promise Keepers and the Events, PK had been inaccessible to the men whose first language is Samoan. Under the guidance of two of our Board members, Tavale Matai’a and Lui Ponifasio, a task force planned and delivered the Tama Tane Malosi Event.
Can you give a special gift to Promise Keepers this Christmas? Promise Keepers appreciates all the gifts and support received during the year. If you are in a position to give something extra this Christmas to help PK start strong in the New Year, would you consider acting now? Thanks for your current support and for considering this request.
Ph: 0800 PROMISE (77 66 47) | Web: www.promisekeepers.org.nz | Bank Account: 12 3082 0105255 04
As the number of WiseChoices subscribers and donors grows, it helps support the mission of Promise Keepers.