To Our Supporters
Autumn 2017
Dear Friend, Six people I know suicided in the first three months of 2015. They were all middle-aged men, except for one guy in his 30s. I had never been to a suicide funeral before that. Suddenly I was going to two. This summer it hasn’t been a season of friends suiciding but rather marriage breakdowns. Five so far and counting. I have been busy staying in touch with several of these men and helping them walk their way through it. What is it with men? Young guys mostly have a heap of mates who they hang out with. As they get into the family stage of life, they are often too busy to maintain many close friendships. This is the start of becoming more isolated. As the storms of life – relational, health, employment and financial issues strike, men seldom have true, genuine male friends to walk with them. I have developed some deep friendships. These have been a result of intentionally spending time together in Men’s Groups. We meet weekly to catch up and process the events of the week together and see what God is saying about it. This investment of time results in really knowing each other and caring about how each of us is doing. There are so many situations we face in life, but it is a tragedy if we have to face them alone. There is reassurance in having friends that I could call at 2:00am if I needed to. I know that I can rely on them and they have my back. Isn’t that the way it should be? Yet I have only been motivated to build these friendships because of what I have learnt through Promise Keepers. I know that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other men who have experienced vital, vibrant fellowship and friendships because of PK-inspired (and often resourced) Men’s Groups. So there is a deep legacy from the work that Promise Keepers has done over the last two decades. Let’s look to the future…
ongoing activities and adding a few more. We have become more flexible and versatile in our roles. Despite the blessing of working in a ministry like this, there is also stress and sometimes health issues that occur. The necessity of taking breaks away to recharge and protect our overall health has become a reality.
What is happening now and where is Promise Keepers headed? Accelerating change is all around us and this ministry is experiencing rapid change as well. Let’s pull back the curtains so that you – a valued financial supporter – can see what is happening inside the mission that you are supporting.
Our people We have reduced our staffing over the last 18 months while continuing most of the
Our activities Promise Keepers has undergone huge changes over the last two years and going forward our flagship Events in Wellington and Christchurch will look different. In our first major schedule and format change, these will become shorter with a different feel, finishing before dinner on Saturday. We will run Transition, the Youth Event, on Friday night as well as a leadership option. The popular Electives, launched last year, will continue. Behind the scenes, every change made has
downstream consequences. This involves enormous energy to plan and implement the changes well. A lot of this burden falls on Paul Subritzky. We have launched Pit Stop Events in Blenheim and Invercargill this year to better serve regional towns with a physical event. These complement our increasing offering of online events including groups and courses. The More Than Bacon breakfast series livestreams top international speakers to churches and men nationwide. Providing these resources requires a competent team who ensure that the amazing amount of detail and preparation is completed. Paul Monahan is intensively involved in the courses. Living outside Auckland, he has a long, early commute to avoid traffic, usually working in the office from 7am to 7pm 3 days a week, and running more groups outside these hours.