5 April 2014 NZFT War Cry

FAITH IN ACTION |  April  | Issue  | $.

FIREZONE

JOIN THE TEAM FOR RED SHIELD APPEAL

MĀORI MINISTRY HUI

MAKE YOUR OWN COCONUT OIL BODY SCRUB

WHEN GOD BECOMES SMALL

WHAT IS ‘SOCIAL JUSTICE’, ANYWAY?

02 WarCry§05 April 2014

Kia ora Jesus recycles WAR CRY

The Salvation Army Te Ope Whakaora New Zealand, Fiji & Tonga Territory FOUNDER William Booth GENERAL André Cox TERRITORIAL COMMANDER Robert Donaldson The Salvation Army’s message is based on the Bible. Our ministry is motivated by love for God. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human need in his name without discrimination.

War Cry exists to support and advance The Salvation Army’s message, ministry and mission.

EDITOR

Major Christina Tyson GRAPHIC DESIGN

Lauren Millington, Amber Wilkinson STAFF WRITERS

Ingrid Barratt, Martin Barratt, Jon Hoyle, Vanessa Singh PROOF READING

Major Jill Gainsford COVER PHOTO

Malcolm Rutherford OFFICE Territorial Headquarters, 204 Cuba Street, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 Phone (04) 384 5649 Fax (04) 382 0716 Email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org SUBSCRIPTIONS Salvationist Resources Department Phone (04) 382 0740 Email mailorder@nzf.salvationarmy.org $75 per year within NZ PRINT MANAGEMENT MakeReady | www.makeready.co.nz

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All Bible references from the Holy Bible, New International Version, unless otherwise stated.

Articles are copyrighted to The Salvation Army, except where indicated, and may be reprinted only with permission.

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We can learn a lot about how to live in this world from Jesus. For instance, Jesus clearly values the thrifty lifestyle. In John chapter six, Jesus is surrounded by a huge crowd of people intrigued by his growing reputation. Jesus asks Philip, one of his friends: ‘How are we going to feed all these people?’ And Philip rises to the bait: ‘Jesus! What are you thinking? It would take us almost a year’s wages just to give a little bread to all of these people!’

Andrew, another friend, then directs Jesus’ attention to a small boy who has five small loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus thanks God for this provision (we assume the boy was happy to share his lunch with Jesus) and then starts breaking the food into bite-sized portions. After everyone had eaten, Jesus says, ‘Gather up all that is left over. Let nothing be wasted.’

‘Let nothing be wasted.’ It’s a principle we learn from the life of Jesus. How much in this world do we make and consume that we don’t really need? How much do we replace simply because we’re obsessed with something newer and more modern?

‘Let nothing be wasted’—that’s the principle behind Lucy AitkenRead’s ‘Wonderthrift’ philosophy, this edition’s cover story.

Of course, Jesus is also in the business of helping people recycle their lives. We see a lot of this in The Salvation Army.

People come through our doors without much hope, only to discover they have a second chance at life. Sometimes that’s after we help them break free from the despair of addiction, debt or unemployment. But for many others, it’s the recycled life that follows when someone turns to God that proves most life-changing. None of us is ever so broken or damaged as to be worthless. God sees immense value in everyone.

Recycled by God and for God. It’s a great thing to see and an even greater thing to experience.

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Christina Tyson Editor

14 BIBLE VERSE Luke 12:33-34 J.B. Phillips New Testament

‘… Get yourselves purses that never grow old, inexhaustible treasure in Heaven, where no thief can ever reach it, or moth ruin it. For wherever your treasure is, you may be certain that your heart will be there too!’

Ruka 12:34

‘Ko te wāhi hoki i tō koutou taonga, ko reira anō ō koutou ngākau.’

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WISE WORDS

Wisdom understands that in a world of ecological interconnectedness there is no such things as ‘away’.

We don’t throw things ‘away’, we simply put them someplace where they defile the land, foul the water, pollute the air or change the earth’s atmosphere.

Brian Walsh & Sylvia Keesmaat Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire

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Let’s Talk | 03

I

t’s only a few weeks until The Salvation Army’s annual Red Shield street appeal, which runs from 28 April to 4 May. This is such a crucial fundraiser for the Army, helping to fund our network of Community Ministries welfare centres across New Zealand. These centres are a front door to a second chance in life for a lot of people.

Last year, our Community Ministries centres provided 56,707 food parcels to 28,913 clients—but we also helped in so many other ways. When people come to us for help with food because their household budget has become impossibly stretched, often we’re able to wrap entire packages of care around them. This includes everything from budgeting advice, accommodation, and life skills and parenting training, to helping with drug, alcohol and gambling addictions—and even training people so they have the right skills to find jobs.

Felicity had managed to balance her household budget for years before falling into debt as she tried to meet household bills and provide her children with the things they needed for school and sports activities. The only part-time job she could find that fitted in with her children’s school hours was a paper run paying just $2.50 a day. She took the job.

Felicity then approached The Salvation Army for help. Food parcels helped take some pressure off, while a budget advisor worked with Felicity to devise a workable budget and helped negotiate workable repayment schedules with her creditors.

In August this year—about 18 months after the first meeting with her budget adviser—Felicity will have all of her debt paid off.

This is the type of life-transforming work those serving in our Community Ministries centres are involved in every day. This is the type of work our Red Shield Appeal funds. But for this year’s appeal to be a success, we need more people out and about during Red Shield Appeal Week.

The Sallies used to pound the pavements knocking on doors and politely asking for donations to the Red Shield Appeal. Then The Salvation Army led the way for many other New Zealand charities by shifting its collecting style, locating our collectors in busy foot traffic areas such as shopping centres and railway stations.

A real strength back then, was that we deployed a whole army of volunteers to help us collect: service clubs, sporting clubs, high school students and supporters from right across the community. Over the years, we’ve become somewhat self-sufficient in our approach to Red Shield Appeal Week and lost contact with some of those valuable volunteer networks.

This year, we want to reactivate some of those old links.

We still want our church people to put their hands up to help out with collecting for the appeal, but we’d love it if people from the wider New Zealand community felt free to give an hour or two of their time to help out too.

If you can smile and say ‘thank you’, you’re welcome to join our team to strengthen the wonderful work that goes on every day in our Community Ministries centres. Just contact your nearest Salvation Army and let them know that you’d like to help this year—and stand side by side with Kiwis in need.

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Bookshelf Theology When God Becomes Small Commissioner Phil Needham Christian writers are often great teachers, but not always great writers. So it’s wonderful to find an author like Commissioner Phil Needham whose wisdom comes to life in the written form, with his lyrical but effortless style. In his latest offering, Needham discusses our addiction to bigness, the fear that drives our desire for more, and how this affects our perception of God. Then he goes on to reveal to us anew a God whose greatness is found in the small things: ‘the creator who constantly and compassionately takes the risk of interacting with his creation’. Simply beautiful words. (Abingdon Press —in association with Crest Books)

Playlist

Faith & Life Faith in the Fog Jeff Lucas Jeff Lucas’s CV reads like a typical American power pastor, possibly best known for his light touch on Christianity in Seriously Funny —a collaboration with Adrian Plass.

But here, his contemplative self shines through as he wrestles with the weightier issues of faith in the fog: those times when we question our faith and ‘fall out of love’ with Jesus. Lucas grounds these questions in Scripture, providing thoughtful insights with a style that feels effortless. Incidentally, his opening gambit gives a simple but thoughtful explanation of the Christian stance on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. (Zondervan)

Health First Steps Out of Smoking Dr Simon Atkins After opening with a controversial statement—that smoking is cool —Dr Simon Atkins explains that the illusion of cool is meaningless for his countless patients who suffer the brutal effects of smoking. Even the Marlboro man died of lung cancer. He offers a practical guide to stopping smoking, explaining the stages of successfully quitting, including different tools that can be used, and providing information on withdrawal symptoms. The book debunks common myths, and offers advice on setting realistic goals so you can quit for good. At less than 100 pages, an easy read that will jumpstart your way out of smoking.

(Lion Hudson)

Reel News

Worship/Indie King’s Kaleidoscope Live in Colour Worship outfit King’s Kaleidoscope continue to pile innovation upon innovation with their superbly produced and incredibly creative new EP Live in Colour. It’s a thickly layered, musically complex and immensely satisfying creative expression of the gospel. From the varied instrumentation (including pan flutes, timpani and tubular bells), each element is woven together cohesively. The band’s use of two drummers and multiple percussive elements is excellent, while strings add a sense of depth and urgency. A complex listen that will challenge you to pay attention, but the payoff is worth it. (Free download: www.kingsklive.com)

Brass Glory Forever Wellington Citadel Band Glory Forever was released by the Wellington Citadel band to support their tour of Japan and Hong Kong.

It includes pieces from their tour repertoire, focusing heavily on Army favourites, test pieces and thematic music. Bookended by ‘Emblem of the Army’ and ‘War Cry’, Glory Forever clocks in at just over an hour. There are definite lulls caused by inconsistent track pacing, but the standard of playing is high, and the band is tight and wellrehearsed. There isn’t much new ground broken here, but many will appreciate renditions of ‘Glorifico Aeternum’ and ‘Song of the Brother’ in particular. Good production and mixing gives brass fans another reason to check this one out.

GIVEAWAY To win a copy of When God Becomes Small tell us why you think God is great.

War Cry Giveaway, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wgtn 6141 or email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org. Entries close 21 April.

New Zealand’s Lost Heritage winner is E Carian.

Drama Dallas Buyers Club Jean-Marc Vallee / R16 (violence, drug use, language, sex scenes) Matthew McConaughey is in Oscar-winning form as womanising Texan Ron Woodroof, staring down a 30-day death sentence when he is diagnosed with HIV in 1985. Hearing of medicines that lack government approval, Woodroof takes matters into his own hands, tracking down alternative treatments from all over the world by means both legal and illegal. Circumventing the pharmaceutical industry’s profit-oriented practices to get effective treatments into the hands of HIV/AIDS sufferers, he joins forces with a band of outcasts to establish a hugely successful ‘buyers’ club’ to sidestep the law.

Given the subject matter and lifestyles of the characters, this film is explicit, intentionally repellent and, at times, very difficult to watch. That said, it deals openly with important themes of alienation and homophobia.

McConaughey is brilliant as the dyed-in-the-wool homophobe who believes only ‘gays’ get AIDS, and whose first response to his diagnosis is furious macho denial. His relationship with transgender AIDS patient Rayon (movingly played by Jared Leto in an another Oscar-winning role) is entirely opportunistic. As a committed bigot, Woodroof needs a way into the gay community and Rayon is his passport to monetary reward. Only later, when business is booming, does something approaching friendship emerge.

Rayon is non-threatening enough to break through Woodroof’s homophobic defences, inspiring an act of chivalry in a grocery store that ranks among the all-time great prejudice-melting scenes in film.

The most arresting and revealing AIDS-related drama since Philadelphia, Dallas Buyers Club presents a challenge to those who pay lip service to being a champion for ‘lepers on the fringes’ but may yet be missing in action.

Go to

salvationarmy.org.nz/saresources

Feature | 05

Lucy AitkenRead is a popular blogger on thrifty and environmentallyfriendly living who says she has her Salvation Army officer parents to thank for her lifestyle of happiness-on-a-budget.

This UK-born spendthrift recently moved to New Zealand with her Kiwi husband and two young children. And she’s joining War Cry as a regular guest columnist, so readers will have the chance to apply Lucy’s stylish and eco-friendly know-how to their lives, too.

BY LUCY AITKENREAD Photography: Malcolm Rutherford

06 | WarCry§05 April 2014

was born thrifty. I’m a fifth generation Salvationist, born to officer parents who both had officer parents themselves—I simply didn’t have the money-spending gene!

My grandparents were Salvation Army officers in the time when their wages came directly from the community. Granddad used to tell us about his ragtag brass band that would play at the foot of the blocks of flats, hoping for people to throw their pennies into the bells of their B-flat basses. (This was secondary, of course, to their hope that listeners would turn to Jesus—many did, in their hundreds!)

For a few years in my childhood, I thought my Nana worked at the large UK department store, C and A, because once a year we would get to sort through a bin bag of their end-of-line clothes. These few outfits would last us until the next time Nana arrived with her wondrous bin bag. Little did I know that this clothing was donated to the Army and that officers’ kids got the leftovers! It was the highlight of my year, every year.

I don’t resent my simple childhood at all. Until my teenage years, our family had always lived in parts of the UK that were low down on the socio-economic scale, so our lack of stuff and fashion wasn’t important or even apparent.

In fact, being an officers’ kid has made me who I am today in lots of ways: I am adaptable and make friends easily as a result of moving town every few years, for instance. (Another product of moving so frequently is that I also pick up accents shamefully quickly. I can move seamlessly now from Kiwi to Welsh depending on whom I am conversing with—just as when I was a kid, I moved from a broad Northern accent to Jamaican-Cockney in the space of a day. It’s a survival strategy!) And I’ve had an enormous amount of opportunities open up to me as a result of my parents’ officership.

Finding love in NZ I moved to New Zealand when I was 18, prompting much jealousy amongst my friends, as I followed my parents out here after my final exams. They’d been appointed to The Salvation Army Officer Training College in Upper Hutt. I was only meant to be here for a year, but fell in love with the country and couldn’t leave—even after my parents went back to London!

I studied at Victoria University, paying my way by doing various jobs such as painting scaffolding and dressing as a giant yoghurt pot in the weekends. Fortunately, Hutt City Corps (church) stepped in and gave me an only slightly more dignified job as their youth worker.

It was during a youth group event that I fell in love once again, this time with a chap called Tim from Auckland who was visiting one of our volunteers. It was Valentine’s Day a few weeks after we met and I came home from university to find a massive box on my doorstep that seemed to be squawking. I opened it up to find two fat hens sitting on two warm eggs, pretty cross and covered in poo, and I knew Tim was the one.

I romanced him, in turn, by making him lemon curd that didn’t set and crafting him homemade candles that set fire to his dining table. We were married six months later.

The joys of thrift But perhaps the most significant way my upbringing as an officers’ kid (an ‘O.K.’ to those in the know) has impacted me is in my ability to, nay my enjoyment of, living thriftily.

My aptitude for frugal living was crucial during my years at Victoria University, and the early years of our marriage when we moved to London and I became a student once more, studying for an Msc in Social Policy. But it was once we had a child, a mortgage on a small terraced home in central London, and the desire to only work half-time so that one of us was always home with our daughter that our budget became as tight as it had ever been.

It was during this year that I began pondering on the concept of ‘thrift’ as a wonderful alternative way of living, rather than just a dull, unpleasant necessity. I began wondering if there was something almost godly about living a thrifty life.

There is a kind of frugal that doesn’t care much for the planet … It is money saving, but it isn’t planet saving.

Thrifty living is a snub to those corporations that would have us believe their over-the-top marketing hype. By not rushing out to buy the latest fashion item or kitchen utensil that the adverts tell us we need, we are standing firm and telling large companies that our sense of worth doesn’t require these things. Ignoring flash marketing campaigns is a statement about not needing more stuff to lure friends and be successful. It is a celebration of how good God has made us: alone, un-adorned and yet perfect!

Thrifty living is an invitation to live life more imaginatively.

You want to make cookies in wonderful shapes with your kid, but don’t own a cookie cutter? Let’s look about the house for shapes that could work. This bowl would make a nice oval! And this doily could leave a beautiful imprint! And, if I can find the pliers, I could wrangle this strip of metal into a bird! (I didn’t let my two-year-old cut her cookies with that dodgy implement, but the birds I cut looked brilliant.) Some of my most creative projects have come about simply because I didn’t own something and refused to rush to the shops to buy it.

Thrifty living nurtures the maker in us all. I have a theory that one of the ways God inhabits our hearts is through creativity. Just as we manifest an all-loving God through our kindness, we manifest our Creator God through our creating. Not everyone thinks they are crafty, but I’d say everyone has a spark for creating something that just needs to be blown into being. There is a wholeness to be found when we stitch up a rip in our favourite skirt or knead a loaf of bread or knock up a chicken shed out of pallets.

Thrifty living is a declaration of concern for the environment.

There is a kind of frugal that doesn’t care much for the planet. I call this ‘Dollar Shop Thrifty’. It is money saving, indeed; but it isn’t planet saving. It is still stuff-based—it is just that the stuff costs a mere buck.

Thriftiness, on the other hand, is about being resourceful and lessening waste. It is turning all the leftovers in the fridge into

Feature | 07

fantastic fritters, and it is using things in the kitchen as gorgeously scrummy skin-care products: reducing frivolous packaging and the need for whole factories to be churning out expensive facial scrubs made with ancient grains! (I do find the natural beauty industry marvellously ironic. Most of the ingredients are sitting on our pantry shelves!)

Thrifty living is a collective act. It is almost impossible to live in this way without calling on friends and family! Whether it is in a highly organised way such as a friend I interviewed recently who is part of a bulk-buy cooperative (each month they save enormous amounts of money by group-buying their food, getting wholesale prices and splitting shipping costs), or in a more informal way such as baby-sitting trade-ins. I have never once paid for child care, as my neighbour and I had an arrangement where I would take her child in for the evening so she could go on a date with her husband, and then she would have Ramona so we could do the same. Co-owning lawn mowers, doing skill swaps, sharing a vegetable garden—this thrifty living needs a vibrant community of loving relationships!

Thrifty living is biblical. It is a reflection of so many parts of Scripture, such as Jesus’s stories that inspire us to be good stewards and Proverb’s nuggets that encourage us to be diligent. Unlike those darkly clothed, slightly glum Puritans who took the Bible as a call to misery, this spendthrift life is big and joyful and imaginative. The thrifty life is not a sparse life necessarily, but it is a simple life.

… this spendthrift life is big and joyful and imaginative.

Thrift for life I was born thrifty, but I’ve since turned it into a lifestyle. And, so have many others. Last year, to the sounds of knowing laughter from second-hand lovers across the world, Macklemore released a single called ‘Thrift Shop’ where he describes the sheer genius of op shops.

He eloquently raps the allure of second-hand bargains, however bizarre the objects themselves might be: ‘They had a broken keyboard, I bought a broken keyboard. I bought a sweet blanket, then I bought a kneeboard.’ The record made it to number one in countries across the globe, with this rapper celebrating freedom from corporate greed and the joy to be found in old jumble.

I’m sure op shops have been busier than ever since this song hit the charts, and I do think that increasing numbers of people in the developed world are opting for thrift as a way of life. We are taking it beyond simply op-shopping and applying it to our kitchens, our choice of bank, our interior design. There is a movement of people that are dusting off the mothballs and embracing the eco-conscious and stylish side of thrifty living.

In response to this, I launched a new website on New Year’s Day this year. It is called Wonderthrift.com and taps a frugal wand over every part of life.

Almost every day there is a new tip or inspiring story about how to live thriftily while loving the environment. This is an alternative to

that Dollar Shop Thrift, and aims to light-heartedly encourage people to save money and live simple, yet generous lives.

We recently moved from London and came back to New Zealand, and Tim and I have doubled our ranks while we’ve been gone. We now have two daughters: Juno who is 10 months old and Ramona who is three. They are growing up happily on hand-me-downs and op-shopped toys, and they fit right in with the Kiwi spirit that turns every branch into a swing for a dash of cheap fun!

I think the thrifty family life we are nurturing will go from strength to strength here in this land where the ‘make do and mend mindset’ is always in vogue!

A collection of thrifty tips from Wonderthrift.com •

Half an apple in the tin you store your baking in, will stop that baking becoming stale.

•

Banana skins are good for stopping mozzie bites itching, for shining shoes and for healing cracked heels!

•

Soluble aspirin is a secret ingredient in many high-end beauty products. Get the look for a few cents by making a paste and smearing it on to your face, and washing it off after a few minutes.

•

Misspelling the items you are looking for on Trade Me could find you some exceptional bargains!

•

A week’s worth of old tea bags can be turned into a great all-round cleaner. Boil them up for one hour and use the liquid on windows and kitchen surfaces and tiled floors.

•

A teaspoon of sugar in a vase of flowers will get them lasting days longer—and changing the water and keeping it cool will keep them going even longer!

•

Mix together equal parts of brown sugar and olive oil with a spoon of cracked pepper for a body scrub that will make you feel like you have a new body!

•

Save your tins and glue some cool paper on them, give them a quick varnish and you have instant, free containers for storing kitchen utensils or stationery.

•

Give new life to your kitchen by making over your whiteware!

Use stencils and spray paint to give your fridge a fabulous makeover.

•

Get rid of your fruit bowl! Keeping all your fruit together makes it all go off quicker. Give them separate bowls, and keep lots of things in the fridge to add days to their life.

Bananas are the biggest culprit for making other fruit ripen too quickly —keep your bunch in a plastic bag to contain their bad gases.

08 | WarCry§05 April 2014

LIFESTYLE

BUDGETING

A Coconutty Alternative

Coconut Oil Body Scrub

Everyone is talking about coconut oil these days, and with good reason, too. It’s a fantastic oil for cooking as it can cook at extremely high temperatures without burning. It is also wonderfully healthy when eaten, and gives a creamy, tropical taste to simple dishes.

However, coconut oil comes in to its own as a natural alternative to many beauty products. Just one tub can provide the function of several highly packaged, expensive beauty products.

Moisturiser: Coconut oil is antibacterial and nourishing for the skin.

Smooth it into your skin (face and body)—you’ll find it is easily absorbed and your skin will feel super soft.

Eye Make-up Remover: In Brazil, tubs of pure coconut oil are labeled as ‘Eye Make-up Remover’. Simply wipe on and off with a cotton wool ball.

Hair Conditioner: A tiny amount of coconut oil rubbed into the ends of your hair (or a child’s knotty hair!) just before bedtime will ensure you wake up with perfectly glossy, conditioned locks.

Body Scrub: Mix half a cup of coconut oil with one cup of salt for an easy but effective all-over body scrub. Add some drops of lavender oil to make it a little fancy, and give as a pressie.

Oral Hygiene: Oil pulling is a bit of a craze at the moment. It involves swishing a spoon of coconut oil around your mouth for twenty minutes five times a week to rid yourself of toxins. This is a deep cleanse for your mouth, and your teeth will sparkle!

Make sure you buy the fair trade, raw, virgin coconut oil. It’s expensive, but still costs far less than other beauty products and comes without any of the extra chemicals. You can buy it in every health shop, many supermarkets and in bulk for a great price online.

Source: www.wonderthrift.com

One of the best ways to show someone you love them, without spending a whole heap, is by making gifts.

Hold on, hold on, no one said you had to be crafty! There are some simple things that anyone can make and that everyone will enjoy receiving. Here is one of my go-to presents when one of my friends has a special day ...

Take half a cup of coconut oil and, if solid, warm slightly for 20 seconds in the microwave. Coconut Oil is hard when cold and liquid when warm. You don’t want it to be liquid, just soft!

Mix in one cup of regular, cheap, supermarket salt, and you have a basic all-over body scrub—it makes people feel like a million dollars.

Now snazzy it up with either a few drops of essential oil or some herbs: • A few drops of peppermint oil, or 10 roughly chopped peppermint leaves will turn this into a gorgeous refreshing scrub.

• A few drops of lavender oil, or 10 chopped up flower heads, will make a more relaxing, sleep inducing treatment.

• Feel free to get creative with whatever you have in your garden/ neighbour’s garden. Perhaps lemon rind and ginger for a detox effect, or rosemary for the men in your life.

Present it in a vintage tea cup or an old jam jar, and make a little tag to tie around the top. Your friends will be delighted and the whole thing will only set you back by about $2.50.

Source: www.wonderthrift.com

He who does not economise will have to agonise.

Confucius

Barbecue-Beef Buns The beef is simmered gently until it almost falls to pieces, then shredded with two forks and reheated with the sauce. Makes enough for a large group or freeze in several lots | Serves 12–14 about 1.5kg blade or flank steak about ¼ cup flour to coat Barbecue Sauce: 1 can/pot tomato paste (about 130g) ½ cup tomato sauce 1 Tbsp balsamic or wine vinegar 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbsp molasses or 2 tsp dark soy sauce about 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp dry mustard 1 tsp salt round bread rolls thinly sliced red onions gherkin or pickled cucumber slices

Turn slow cooker to HIGH and coat with non-stick spray. Cut beef in two or three thick slices but leave in one piece. Pat meat dry and shake in plastic bag of flour to coat. Brown in a little oil in frypan over high heat.

Put meat in slow cooker with ½ cup hot water. Put lid on and cook on HIGH for an hour. Measure sauce ingredients into a small bowl and put aside.

After an hour, turn heat to LOW and cook for 5–6 hours, until meat can be shredded with two forks. Tip cooking liquid out of slow cooker and put aside. Put shredded meat back in cooker with as much sauce as you need to give meat a good flavour (refrigerate beef, leftover sauce and cooking liquid separately until required).

About two hours before serving, reheat on HIGH. Taste, adding extra sauce and more cooking liquid if you like. Turn to LOW or WARM until required.

From 100 Great Ways to Use Slow Cookers & Crockpots by Simon & Alison Holst. www.holst.co.nz

Lifestyle | 09

Q&A How do I make small talk?

Small talk may make you squirm, but it’s an art with big benefits.

As a culture, we’re not very good at small talk, but the art of conversation can be learned.

Some people hate small talk because it feels shallow, but it’s actually the bridge to a more meaningful connection. It wouldn’t be comfortable—or in fact healthy—to disclose very personal information without first building a basic level of trust. In this regard, small talk is an important part of our social interactions.

From the start, the Christian Church was a place where all people were welcomed, greeted and treated like family. It’s easier to stick with our friends, but welcoming strangers is the heart of Church, and an instruction from Jesus. And often, following Jesus means stepping out of our comfort zone!

First off, see strangers as interesting people that you want to get to know. There are two basic ways to start up a conversation: the first is simply to introduce yourself, and ask a question: What’s your name?

What brings you here? Are you new to the area? The second is to find common ground, even if that’s just the weather: How did you deal with the storm this week? What about them All Blacks?

Be the person that asks the questions, rather than the person that talks about themselves. Find out about their job, where they come from, their family, why they came to church. This is small talk, but it shows your genuine interest in them as a person.

If you’ve opened the conversation with a comment that flops, asking follow-up questions will keep the convo going. They’re not into rugby?

Simply ask, ‘Oh cool, so what are you into? … ‘Wow, complex maths problems, huh. Why do you love it?’

Remember, the person you are talking to is probably feeling as shy as you, so even if there are awkward silences, they’ll still appreciate that you were a friendly face. And you never know when it’s going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Testify!

Eighty-year-old Norma Swain has seen miracles happen while raising six children, and being a loving ‘mum’ to hundreds more.

I met my husband Ken (KB) when we were only 15 years old—just children really—and we married in 1953. A couple of years later, we moved to Levin for Ken’s work and we fell in love with the town.

One Sunday, I was walking with our two young sons when I heard a Salvation Army band. My mother had been a corps cadet in the Wellington City Corps (church), and my grandmother was a cadet who studied with Evangeline Booth in London. I had attended Sunday school, learning the stories about Jesus, but that was as deep into God’s love as I understood.

The corps officers invited me to the meeting, and that’s where it all began. For three years I went along, and slipped out quietly at the end. Then, one night, when I heard the same appeal I had heard many times before, I felt like I was being enveloped in a dome. I felt the warmth of oil falling over me.

God spoke to me as clearly as if I was talking to you: come follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.

I walked to the front, knelt down and accepted Christ. I was enrolled as a soldier on 21 April, 1961.

I felt a strong sense that God was calling me to be the YPSM (Young Person’s Sergeant Major), and I eventually confessed this to the corps officers. They replied that they had been praying about that very thing, but wanted it to come from me. And so began many years

of wonderful times with young people at camps, doing performing arts, serving the community and running a Sunday school—and teaching timbrels for over 50 years!

We had four boys, and another two beautiful chosen daughters who came to us, along with a neighbour’s daughter, Belinda, who also became part of our family. We met Brent when he was eight, in a special needs facility. He became part of our family, and at the age of 18 we adopted him. We have fostered 63 children over the years.

Our beloved first son Grant died when a blood clott travelled to his brain, at the age of 40. Every challenge we have been through together has brought our family closer together.

I prayed for 40 years before Ken finally allowed God to touch his life. He nearly died and was helicoptered to Wellington hospital. Dressed all in green, I drove in behind him. When I got there, I heard a woman saying, ‘There’s the lady in green!’ God had told her a lady in green would come and pray for her husband, and she wouldn’t let the surgeons operate until then. I laid hands on his head and prayed, and two weeks later he left hospital completely healed of a brain tumour. It was also in hospital that Ken quietly gave his life to God, and in 1999, he became a soldier.

One time when I was doing

the housework, God stopped me in my tracks, telling me to go and see a woman I had only met once.

I turned up at her house and asked if I could pray with her. As I prayed, three things I knew nothing about came to mind, and the words flowed out from me. She was in tears, as they were the three things that she was battling. In the Lord’s time, she became a soldier.

As I reflect on my life, I see the Holy Spirit has planned all my paths, and I’ve seen miracles by his hand. I know he isn’t finished yet—there is still more to come!

I was doing the housework, God stopped me in my tracks

Let’s Talk

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It’s so we can do the things we do. www.salvationarmy.org.nz/familystores

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10 | WarCry§05 April 2014

SUDOKU

Difficulty Easy

Ahead of the New Zealand General Election on 20 September, War Cry is publishing material from a Christchurch-based group of Christians suggesting a ‘Gospel Manifesto’. Experts will focus Christian voters on the teaching of Jesus and the local and global situation in which we live.

3 2 7 2 6 1 6 9 8 5 4 8 1 3 7 9 2 5 1 4 9 2 8 6 1 3 9 8 7 5 2 1 3 8 4 6 5

Priority 1: Every Child Counts

Each Sudoku number puzzle has a unique solution that can be worked out logically (not mathematically). The numbers 1 to 9 appear once in every row, column and 3x3 square.

ANSWERS BELOW 8 5 7 3 1 6 4 9 2

6 4 9 7 2 5 3 8 1

7 6 8 9 4 1 2 5 3

3 1 5 2 8 7 6 4 9

2 9 4 5 6 3 1 7 8

Answers: 1 Falconry or hawking, 2 Edvard Munch, 3 True (invented by Baron von Drais, it had a steering system but no pedals), 4 The hypotenuse, 5 Samson (Judges 16:23–30).

5

1 2 3 4 9 8 5 6 7

4

9 8 6 1 5 2 7 3 4

2 3

In which sport would you use leather gloves, bells and hoods?

Who painted ‘The Scream’?

The first bicycle was manufactured in 1817. True or false?

What is the longest side of a triangle called?

Who caused thousands of deaths by toppling two pillars in a large building?

4 7 2 6 3 9 8 1 5

1

5 3 1 8 7 4 9 2 6

LET’S GET QUIZZICAL

GOSPEL MANIFESTO

Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus saying that the children should be allowed to come to him and not be hindered from doing so. In this and other contexts, children were to be given a special and promoted place in the society in which they lived. Here then, lies the genesis for reflecting on how well we provide (or fail to provide) for children and their needs in contemporary society. While New Zealand does well in providing for many of its children, there are far too many for whom our care and provision is woefully inadequate.

This is most clearly illustrated in ensuring all children have the basics they need in such fundamental areas as food, clothing, educational opportunity, health care access, and the opportunity to participate in the recreational activities their peers enjoy.

Irrespective of how we measure it, around one in five (20 per cent) of New Zealand’s children live below the poverty line.

While, for a small amount of these children, this may be the result of not spending money appropriately or wisely, the vast majority live in families that do not receive enough money. The majority of these families receive a benefit of some kind. However, there is also a very significant group (around 40 per cent) that are in households where somebody is in paid work. Māori and Pacific children are significantly over represented among children living in households below the poverty line.

By themselves, children are unable to change their own circumstances—they depend on what their parents do and what we do as a society do to ensure that all children are adequately provided for.

Concretely, this means that if we are to improve the income

of families with children so poverty levels are reduced, we will need to do three things: 1. Benefit levels will have to be increased.

2. Wages for those in low-paid work need to be improved.

3. We will need to remove the discrimination faced by children in benefit households whose parents are denied the Work Tax Credit simply because their carer is not in paid work.

What we do to improve the lives of these children and what we demand of our political leaders in policies that reduce child poverty will be the most important test for this year’s election.

Children have only one opportunity to enioy and learn from the experience of being a child. As a society, we can do a great deal to make that experience the best possible for all children, supporting and encouraging parents or carers to provide for children, and demand effective policies from politicians. Phrases such as ‘every child counts’ and ‘no child left behind’ have been expressed frequently in recent years. This year’s election is an opportunity to demand that these phrases be given real and concrete meaning for all children. The critical place to begin is with policies and programmes that reduce child poverty.

The New Testament gospel message about the special place of children in New Zealand society in 2014 contains two closely related elements: 1. All children matter, and political policies need to reflect that.

2. Reducing child poverty must be treated as a critical priority.

The question we all need to ask of all policies is: how do these policies treat children and reduce child poverty?

Michael O’Brien is Associate Professor, School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work at the University of Auckland

Close Up | 11

What is ‘Social Justice’, Anyway?

Although ‘social justice’ can be a slippery notion to keep a grip on, it’s important to keep asking ourselves: ‘Am I living justly?’

BY SUE HAY Earlier this year, I relocated from Christchurch to South Auckland. In the evenings, my husband and I have been walking the streets of our new neighbourhood to get a sense of our new community. During the day, I’ve been trying to get a sense of my new role as Assistant Director with The Salvation Army’s Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit. Our team is part of The Salvation Army’s mission to fight injustice and engage in social action.

As a newbie to both South Auckland and the unit, I decided the best way to understand my new environment is to ask questions. I have asked questions like: where do I find the best Indian takeaways?

Why are there Police in my supermarket most times I shop? What do I do about the baby left crying in the back of that car? Why have prisons been built in our neighbourhood? And … what is social justice, anyway?

To be honest, my understanding of social justice sometimes seems a bit like chasing a wet cake of soap across the bathroom floor! I think I know what social justice looks like, but it is still hard to grasp.

In the past, I’ve read about social justice issues. I’ve liked social justice posts on Facebook. And in my previous role, I specialised in delivering addiction treatment interventions. Yet still I’ve felt guilty about not being involved in enough ‘social justice causes’. At times, I’ve not been sure if I’ve been engaging in social justice ‘properly’.

My more intentional research this year has revealed that social justice is actually very difficult to define. According to a survey undertaken in New Zealand a few years ago, respondents had very different ideas of what social justice is all about. Even Google offers many definitions. It’s not that some people are right or wrong. Rather, there are many different ways of approaching social justice and a variety of understandings of what constitutes social justice. No wonder it’s felt like I’ve been struggling to keep hold of a slippery bar of soap!

At last year’s Just Action conference, I was deeply impacted by the comment of a Salvation Army officer who told me that many of our Salvation Army corps (churches) tell him they ‘don’t do social justice because they haven’t yet found a Social Justice Champion’. Perhaps our churches feel like they are grasping at an elusive bar of soap, too?

As my research progressed, I changed my questions. I stopped asking, ‘Am I doing social justice?’, which comes with a subtle second question: ‘Am I doing enough social justice?’ That’s because when my focus is on ‘doing’, I suspect there’s the danger that social justice

then becomes something I do to others. And I also suspect that such ‘doing’ might come from a place of superiority, pride or power. Such actions are more like an ‘App’ to download and play on command, rather than a way of life. If I focus on doing social justice, I can then stop doing social justice whenever my virtuous feelings outweigh my guilty feelings about not doing enough.

But when I change my approach to ask, ‘Am I living justly?’, I suspect that ‘just action’ will become an integrated part of who I am.

For those of us that are part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, just living flows from an understanding that God dignifies all human life and the planet. Ideally, this understanding motivates us to live from a place of compassion that empowers and honours others and protects our universe.

As I’ve considered the various definitions of, and approaches to, social justice, it seems to me that God gives each of us a passion for particular causes. Some of us are deeply moved by the injustice of migrant exploitation here in New Zealand, others want to fight for gender equality, address the causes of child poverty, or create pathways to accessible housing for all New Zealanders. Thus, alongside the multiple definitions for social justice are multiple pathways for working toward a more just world.

I therefore wonder if it is more important to focus on who we are by embracing Gandhi’s challenge: ‘You must be the change you want to see in the world.’ Each of us can ask God for the passion to be part of solutions in our own communities, living in ways that make those solutions a reality.

This year, The Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit’s Just Action conference is taking the form of a roadshow in four main centres.

We’re planning to localise each roadshow to reflect what’s happening in each of these communities. Our overall aim is to inspire responses about how we can live justly and promote just action in our own backyards. We intend to move beyond chasing a slippery bar of soap, to grasping hold of a way of life that brings social justice to our communities. I hope you’ll join us.

Go to salvationarmy.org.nz/socialjustice and facebook.com/ SPPUNZ for more about the work of the Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit. To receive the unit’s monthly Public Sphere newsletter, e: socialpolicy@nzf.salvationarmy.org

12 | WarCry 05 April 2014

When God Becomes Small In a world obsessed with big things, Phil Needham reveals a God whose true greatness is in his smallness.

Excerpted from his book, When God Becomes Small.

We wake up one morning, restless about where we are in life, dissatisfied with ourselves. We wonder where we can go from here, what more we can do to satisfy our longings or get more out of life.

Our dissatisfaction may be rooted in a salary we think is too small, a home we think too humble, a marriage not as fulfilling as we had hoped—or something else we imagine is the cause of our discontent.

What accounts for this? Why do we want to be more than we are and have more than we have? Why this craving to be better than the next person, in one way or another—more respected, better looking, more successful, more prosperous, more ethical, more holy, more talented, more honoured, more erudite, or more ‘together’? What are we really grasping after here. And why?

I suspect that on some level what we seek is significance, a recognition of our worth and acknowledgement that our life has value. No one wants to be a lesser person or, far worse, a nobody. The obsession with more tempts us every direction we turn.

How Jesus sees it If we study the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, we are shocked to learn that he gives no positive acknowledgement of such attainment as markers of genuine significance. Quite the contrary: he warns us against our deceptive seduction. Wealth easily distracts the mind and consumes the heart. Success tempts us sorely to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, positioning us for a fall. The adulation of fans and admirers tricks us into a dangerous lack of self-awareness.

The drive to succeed and be admired as a church leader cloaks an arrogance no less deplorable for the religious language and coating.

If we study the life of Jesus, we are shocked by his disdain of wealth, status, adulation, and fame. He’s born dirt poor and chooses to stay that way. He spends his time almost exclusively with the poor and marginalised; people of status have to impose upon Jesus, or make an appointment with him during off hours, or arrest him in order to have a conversation. When people, after seeing his messianic charisma and miraculous power, try to get him to lead a rebellion against the Roman occupiers, he slips away. He orders people not to publicise his works and increase his fame. He remains in the relative obscurity of Palestine for almost his entire life. And frankly, he shows little or no deference for people in high positions, secular or religious; in fact, what he says about them usually brings them down a few notches.

If we want to take Jesus seriously, we must come to terms with his opposition to our obsession with more and bigger claims.

A mindset of scarcity The overriding assumption supporting this drive to the top, to have more and to be better than others, is the mindset of scarcity. It is a mindset that assumes there is never enough for everyone, and we always need more. There is never enough food, never enough money,

never enough resources to make us secure, never enough positions of prominence, never enough respect to go around. If there is not enough to go around, I will probably want what you have.

Holding tight to a ‘never enough’ worldview means believing, down deep, that neither God nor anyone else will provide for your needs. Never enough breeds suspicion and fear. We grasp for power and position or we give up to our helplessness. When buying into the mindset of scarcity, we remove ourselves from its opposite: the abundance of grace. By letting go of such desperation, we open ourselves to the possibility of discovering a gracious God we can trust, a God who cares for us and is there for us.

The world Jesus invites us to enter is the world of small things.

Down to Earth The active vocational lives [my wife] Keitha and I pursued kept us busy advancing [The Salvation Army’s] mission and addressing personnel and administrative matters associated with it. In our retirement, we have more time and energy to be attentive to small things. We have come to realise that the small things really are the big things—they are the profound and cherished. We are convinced that the contribution any of us makes to the lives of other people has much more to do with small graces and personal attentiveness than with large accomplishments and professional advancement.

If the small things actually are the most lasting and meaningful, why, then, are we continually impressed by those who achieve high positions, enormous power and influence, or large-scale recognition?

I believe our attraction to more and bigger is fed by our fear—our fear of being left behind in the competition we wrongfully see life to be. Our fear of not having enough and therefore always needing more, and more, and more. Our fear of not being loved or liked unless we measure up, or build up, or climb up. Our fear of each other. Our fear of God, if we believe in him.

Fear is the subtle and unrecognised demon that drives us to doubt our adequacy and distrust our relationships. It lures us to find worth in what we accomplish rather than in who we are.

Fear is the enemy of relationships. Nothing is more hurtful than not being valued by another person. Trusting relationships then become more difficult because we fear hurt and rejection. Intimacy is now a threat. As we become increasingly uncomfortable in our small world of relationships, we see the larger world as a viable escape from intimacy, and larger pursuits as alternative sources of affirmation.

The lonely person often becomes the driven person.

Surprisingly, one of the biggest barriers to human intimacy is a distorted view of God.

The great, inaccessible God Let me introduce you to my childhood religion. In my earliest years I saw God as kind of cosmic father figure. He was not mean or cruel, but he did live a long way away, and he did have rules I was supposed to live by. For the most part, I did live by them, and when I didn’t, my main punishment was guilt.

Soul Food | 13

Jesus was in the picture, too, and whereas he seemed much more accessible than the cosmic father figure, I saw him as a kind of harmless, gentle person who walked around a storybook Palestine and said nice things to nice people (especially children) and sometimes harsh things to deserving, sinful people. I was able to identify with the nice people, so long as I didn’t slip up and commit some kind of transgression. When I did slip up, I knew how to work the system as I had been taught. I brought my feelings of guilt to Jesus, who somehow then made things right again with the heavenly Father.

There were two things about it all, however, that satisfied neither my heart nor my mind as I matured during the teen years. One was my sense of the remoteness and inaccessibility of God. Why was there so much distance between us? Was God’s ‘greatness’ so great that he was always beyond me? A distant God is a God to be either feared or doubted.

The world Jesus invites us to enter is the world of small things.

Why would we hold to this view of an invariable God, a God who does not change his mind, a God whose greatness makes him inaccessible? Ironically, this gives us a way to control God, or so we think. Having boxed him into his state of unchangeableness, we think we can predict him. We say God is consistent, so we can figure him out (Lord, just show me the rules, and I’ll live by them). Or we say he is remote, so we can ignore him (the Lord won’t notice; he doesn’t really care how I live); or we may even dismiss him (God is only a projection of our minds, a desperate attempt to fill the gap of our knowledge and answer questions we don’t yet have good answers to). This unmoved God is not someone you would spend time with—we would think to stay clear of him, which is, in fact, what most do.

A questionable greatness God is the victim of the questionable greatness we have ascribed to him. Indeed, God is great, but I fear we have missed his true greatness, and in so doing we have distorted and sometimes undermined the stunning truth of the Christian gospel. God is not great because he is high above us or remote from us, he is great because he is the Creator who constantly and compassionately takes the risk of interacting with his creation.

The apostle Paul makes the claim that God ‘isn’t far away from us’ (Acts 17:16-28), and that God’s greatness is not measured by how different he is from us. His emphasis is quite the opposite: we are God’s offspring. We are created in his image, and Paul is fond of calling us God’s children. These words assume the intimacy between parents and children, where both a capacity for likeness and the possibility of learning the family’s way of life are assumed.

My childhood faith gave me a God of questionable greatness. I felt his remoteness. I was a speck of dust within the whole scheme of things. What I learned as the years progressed was that God was

as close to me as the significant persons in my life. In fact, he often loved me, spoke to me and fought with me through them.

But for many, who see God as remote and inaccessible, they decide he must be made present in some form or another. They conceive of him in ways that make sense to them, and then worship the god they have fashioned to assure themselves. Left to our own human devices, we make him in our image, reversing the truth of who we humans are. God is shrunk into this lesser god who matches our tastes and sanctifies our ambitions.

There are many lesser gods, but they all share this in common: we do not serve them. They serve us.

The God who makes himself small Two woodcuts by Fritz Eichenberg hang on the wall of my study.

One pictures Jesus standing in a breadline seeking food along with homeless people. The other has him sitting at a meal table inside a homeless shelter, and the title is ‘The Lord’s Supper’.

Eichenberg captures the Christian gospel’s surprise: God has not only entered our world, he has come in lowliness. He has focused his attention on all the human race, and particularly on those who are most ignored—the marginalised, the poor, the mistreated, the ‘inferiors’, the human leftovers that do not fit in secure social structures. ‘So much for a God too great or too far!’ laughs the gospel.

Something strange is taking place here, a paradox of divinity, a God acting un-Godlike to help us grasp who he really is. He is a lover going out of his way and travelling a long way to find his beloved.

The incarnation, God’s entry into our world in the flesh and blood of the man Jesus, sets the stage for an overthrow of the stereotype of a totally removed God. Such a God, devoid of distance, is not some new or made-over God. He is the God who has always been deeply affected by our lives and has always suffered for our sins. Again and again the Old Testament gives witness to his anger and hurt over how those he loves ignore, betray and humiliate him. Some of the prophets, and especially Hosea, portray him as a lover who longingly searches for the beloved who has spurned him. The New Testament does not introduce us to a now-different God who decides to suffer over his lost family. It invites us to see God for who he really is and has been all along. The difference is that his heartbreak now becomes the broken heart of Jesus.

God invites us to find our way to him in the flesh and blood of Jesus, a man who walked among us and is still doing so in the Spirit.

He invites us to meet him in the small, common, ordinary ways he chooses to reveal himself. He touches our lives by his closeness, and there we find his true greatness.

Abridged with permission from When God Becomes Small, by Commissioner Phil Needham. Published by Abingdon Press (2014).

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14 WarCry§05 April 2014

Te Ūnga Mai o te Rongopai—The ‘Landing’ of the Gospel

‘He kaikauwhau tēnei ahau!’

(Ruka 2:10)—‘I bring you good news!’ (Luke 2:10) The National Māori Ministry Hui 2014 was held from 5-8 February at Akerama Marae, Tōwai in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland). The hui was focused on ‘Te ūnga mai o te Rongopai’: the landing of the Christian gospel in Aotearoa —the arrival of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Guest speakers Laurie Anderson and Pastors Mike and Penny Norman (Baptist Māori Ministries) were able to speak into this kaupapa (topic) during their workshop, helping people understand the journey of the gospel in Aotearoa throughout the years. We considered the growing relationship between Ngāpuhi leader Ruatara and CMS missionary Samuel Marsden in Australia in the early 1800s, which led to Marsden’s arrival in the Bay of Islands in 1814. While Māori already had knowledge of God, Marsden (along with others —but that’s another story!) shared with people the good news of Jesus Christ, the son

of God. The relationships that grew between early Christian missionaries and Māori chiefs over the next few decades were also a major influence in the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) in 1840.

The timing of our National Hui allowed us to take part in events and activities at the treaty grounds on Waitangi Day, 6 February. Although the rain was persistent, the commitment of the group was inspiring. Huddled under the Ngatokimatawhaorua waka shelter, we took part in the ecumenical service, with the National Leader of Māori Ministry, Aux-Captain Nan Patea, representing Te Ope Whakaora (The Salvation Army).

The Rev. Craig Vernall (National Leader for Baptist Churches New Zealand) addressed the large crowd, sharing his belief that the Treaty of Waitangi should be seen as more than simply a ‘partnership’; that it is actually ‘a covenant binding beyond the level of mutual convenience’ requiring us all to lay aside our ‘temptation for

cultural superiority’ and to seek instead the best for each other.

During the rest of the rainy day at Waitangi some walked around the grounds and saw the Royal New Zealand Navy Band, the 21-gun salute from the ship, stage performances from different kapa haka groups as well as watching the large ceremonial waka Ngatokimatawhaorua being dragged ashore. There was also an opportunity to connect with people passing by our Salvation Army gazebo, offering support and information to connect people to places such as corps, Community Ministries and the Addictions and Supportive Accommodation Services.

Back at the marae after dinner, our large whānau gathered together in the wharenui (meeting house) for the evening programme when we discovered the power was out in the region! We refused to let this ruin our evening. As the sun went down our spirits rose and we began our time together by singing ‘This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!’

A beautiful time of worship

was followed by the installation ceremony of Lieut Hana Seddon in a new Salvation Army role: Hēkeretari-ā-rohe, Manatū Māori (Divisional Māori Ministry Secretary, Northern Division). The installation ceremony was led by Major Stephen Jarvis (Divisional Commander, Nothern Division) … by torchlight! At the completion of the installation ceremony, a karanga (call) followed by a powerful haka was performed. Although we were barely able to make out the silhouettes of others, we felt the strength of that haka deep within. A taonga (treasure), representing the bringing together of two cultures for all eternity, was presented to Hana to mark this special occasion.

With only a couple of very small torches, cell phone light and the occasional camera flash, we made it through the night, thinking about the importance of shining our light in dark places and also of the creation story beginning with darkness but ultimately leading to light. We were reminded that although we may not fully

Photography: Bronwyn McFarlane

Our Community | 15

understand or see everything that is happening, God is still at work in all of these situations we face.

The following day, the team from the Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit, led

by Major Campbell Roberts, drew out discussions from our group around a new research project the unit has committed to, which will see it partner with Māori Ministry in a new and exciting way. There were some very moving and tearful responses to this initiative and to the further demonstration of commitment by the Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit to Māori supported by, members of, or working in The Salvation Army. Many at the hui were willing to step forward in response to this initiative so that we can be part of weaving the project together.

As the rain continued to fall (and after an ‘indoor picnic’ lunch!), a convoy of white vans and cars travelled to a number of historic mission sites, including Te Waimate Mission Station (built in 1832) and Kerikeri Mission Station

(completed in 1822). These are some of New Zealand’s oldest surviving buildings, settled under the watch of local Ngāpuhi chiefs. Laurie Anderson and soldier Turei Heke (Kaitaia Corps) shared their knowledge of those times and many other stories during our haerenga (journey). As we made our way back from these sites, we also visited Ruapekapeka Pā and were blessed to be guided by one of the haukainga (home people) of Akerama Marae. He shared many fascinating stories and took us on a journey around the significant historic site where the final battle in the Flagstaff Wars took place.

After changing into dry clothes and enjoying a kai hākari (a sumptuous meal served on the final night), we performed for the haukainga (people of the marae) to show our appreciation of their hospitality. They seemed very impressed at The Salvation Army’s ‘I’ll Fight’ haka and responded with kind and encouraging words.

With plenty of fuel and

full tummies it was time for the pō whakangāhau (evening entertainment), and everyone was invited to bring an item to perform in our hui concert. So much talent was on display that night, with many solo items and groups from around the country performing—including Epsom Lodge, Whangarei Māori Ministry, Recovery Church (Ewington Ave), a team that had travelled up from Wellington, the tamariki (children) performing together as a group, and the singing officers from Territorial Headquarters, lovingly dubbed ‘The Territorials’. The item that had most people in fits of laughter was the ‘gangnam style’ dance group led by Lieut Daniel In (Kapiti Corps)—incredible and totally unexpected!

During our karakia (church service) on the final morning together, Major Heather Rodwell reflected on the gospel message shared by Marsden in Oihi Bay and challenged us all to share that same life-changing message with the people we know. Several responded to this challenge, coming forward for

ministry and prayer, renewing their commitment to the Lord and stepping forward to do the work God has for them.

It would appear that Māori in many different churches across New Zealand are experiencing a new and exciting move of God and are seeing revitalisation and revival. It cannot be denied that the places where Christ and culture come together are the places where transforming work is taking place, and the Lord is adding to the numbers daily. This is not always tidy, straightforward or according to plan, but the Lord gives grace to get through.

The Salvation Army has surprised many in the wider church and community with its commitment to Māori Ministry.

The growth that is happening is so encouraging and affirming, yet there is so much more to come as the journey of the gospel in Aotearoa continues.

Mauri ora!

Lieut Hana Seddon (Ngāpuhi), Hēkeretari-ā-rohe, Manatū Māori (Divisional Māori Ministry Secretary, Northern Division)

16 WarCry§05 April 2014

Where are you, Parrot?

I began my day at The Family Store in Levin as usual. The first customer had just sold their bookshop and dropped off a box of Bibles. The second customer donated khaki military coats.

Then, in walked a patched gang member, about sixfoot-two, wearing a rolled-up balaclava on his head, and two knives strapped to his ankles.

He asked gruffly, ‘You got any Army clothes?’ I replied, ‘I beg your pardon, where are your manners?’ My workmate screamed as he reached down to his knives, and he said, ‘Lady, I’m just scratching my leg.’

I asked him his name, and he said he was called ‘Parrot’, because of his big nose. So I said I must be ‘Budgie’ then, cos I’ve got a big nose too. We had a laugh, and I told him that I loved him. Tears welled up

in his eyes—no one had ever said that before. I gave him a hug around his waist, because I couldn’t reach any higher.

He told me his real name was Jason, and he had joined a gang at the age of nine. He asked me, ‘Why do you love me?’ And I said, ‘Because God loves you, and tells us to love one another’. Then I read him Corinthians 13, all about love.

I told him to look out the back, because we’d got some military gear in—and told him to pick a Bible if he wanted one.

He chose a coat and a Bible, but said he struggled with the ‘thees and thous’. So I wrote a note to our some local shop owners from The Salvation Army, and said to pick up a Bible from there.

Straight after work, I went around to their shop and was disappointed to find that Jason

GAZETTE hadn’t been in. Then, just as I had left, I ran into him again —he had been detained by the police for a robbery, but since he was innocent the shop owner had shouted him to lunch!

Parrot was on his way to the ferry to go down South, so I wrote another note to the Nelson Salvation Army officers, saying he needed someone to talk to. Three years later, Jason came back into the Family Store looking for me. He told me that he had found Jesus, and was going back to Ruatoria to share the good news with his friends.

That was 1977, and we haven’t seen him since. Where are you, Parrot? We would love to hear from you.

Promoted to Glory Aux-Capt Syd Rubie on 10 March from Hamilton Hospital, aged 80.

Syd John Rubie was born in Raetihi on 4 Nov 1933. He married Jean Lockhart on 19 Nov 1955. In 1986, they became divisional envoys from East Coast Bay Corps and were appointed to Tamaki Corps. After their commissioning as auxiliary captains in 1989, Syd and Jean served together in two further corps appointments, Te Ope Whakaora Corps and Hamilton South Corps.

A change of work came in 1994 as they moved first to Addington Social Services Centre and then, in 1996, to Epsom Lodge. The couple entered retirement on 14 Jan 1999.

We give thanks for Syd’s years of service to God. His funeral, led by Mjr Anthony Stone, was on 14 March at Hamilton City Corps. Please pray for family members at this time grief and loss.

e: warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org if you know Jason, nicknamed ‘Parrot’.

Bereaved Mjr Keith Wray, of his sister Chrissy, on 14 March from Perth, Western Australia. Please remember Mjrs Keith and Kath Wray, Lts Jess and Darryn Bishop, Lts Lisa and Chris Collings, and other family members in prayer at this time.

Norma Swain

International Leaders Build Relationships in Pakistan

International leaders welcomed to Salvationist Rally The visit of General André Cox and Commissioner Silvia Cox to Pakistan provided opportunities to share with Salvationists and form relationships with local authorities and across faith divides.

The General met with the Governor of Punjab, followed by a visit to the Badshahi Mosque.

At territorial headquarters, the international leaders opened a new entrance and guard house.

The General spoke about the need for security and good boundary walls, but added that The Salvation Army’s doors should be open to those who are in need—physically and spiritually—and that its relationships with the community and other faiths should be strong. The day ended

with a visit to the Lahore Girls Boarding Hostel.

On Friday, the General and Commissioner Cox attended a youth rally. They were greeted with young people shouting ‘Hallelujah!’ while waving the flags of Pakistan and The Salvation Army. Drama items by young people from Islamabad and Khanewal were presented, before Commissioner Cox asked the congregation to consider its faithfulness and obedience.

Seventy-five young people came forward for prayer.

Later, at the training college, the General told the cadets and officers their attitude should be like that of Jesus Christ, not looking just after their own interests but also considering the interests of others.

That evening, the international leaders visited Awan Dhyia Corps. They were escorted into the village by motorbikes bearing Salvation Army flags.

Drums and dancing were the order for the night, as the visitors mingled with locals.

On Saturday, 800 women gathered for a rally. The venue was full of colour, with an entrance decorated with mud pots, madhani (wooden butter maker), charkha (cotton wooden spinning machine) and other traditional accessories. A young woman testified that God had answered her prayers, bringing healing to her life. A powerful drama item about violence against women was presented.

Women of all ages moved to the mercy seat for prayer.

In the evening, Christian, Muslim and Sikh faith leaders gathered for a meal. The General said the world needed to see and hear about harmonious relations like these within Pakistan.

In the Sunday morning rally, Commissioner Cox commenced her Bible message by asking the question: ‘What are those things that make us stray from our belief in God?’ She assured her listeners that if they stood firm in Jesus they would receive his strength and the promise of eternal life. At the second rally of the day, the General challenged people to allow Jesus to transform their lives. In both rallies, people were led by the

Appointment The Chief of the Staff has approved the appointment of Mjr David Bateman to the International College for Officers, Session 222, from 16 July to 25 August this year.

Spirit to move forward and seek the transforming power of God in their lives.

On their final day in Pakistan, the General and Commissioner Cox visited William Booth Street at Territorial Headquarters, where officers and employees live, for staff prayers and morning tea.

The remainder of the day was filled with visits. At the Manzil-e-Shifa (House of Healing) Physical Rehabilitation Centre a patient told how The Salvation Army staff showed love and care. A visit to Momanpura to see a Sally Ann (Trade for Hope) and BASSIC (Building Advanced Strong Sustainable Independent Communities) Programme was next on the agenda. Sally Ann products were shown to the visitors before the General presented some new sewing machines. Visits to a literacy centre and mother and child health club were also inspirational. The international leaders’ final visit was to Joyland Girls’ Home, where residents presented flowers and performed a cultural stick dance.

Go to sar.my/genpak for more photos

Noticeboard | 17

CALENDAR APRIL 4–6: Delve Weekend / Totara Springs, Matamata 5: Safe to Serve Training (North) / Fiji Division 7–8: National Chaplains Workshop / Wellington 8–10: Twelve Steps Workshop (Part 2) / Auckland 9: Women’s Ministries Rally (Levin) / Central Division 9–11: Regional Music Camp / Tonga Region 11: Women’s Prayer Night / Fiji Division 12: Safe to Serve Training / Fiji Division 13: Women Officers Connect / Northern Division 14: Officers Councils (North) / Fiji Division 16: Spiritual Day / Booth College of Mission 17–20: Easter Camps 19: Junior Soldiers Big Day Out / Northern Division 18: Good Friday 20: Easter Sunday 22: Southland Anniversary 25: ANZAC Day 25: Taupo Sevens 25–29: Brass Development Camp / Wellington 26: Southern Sevens 26: Safe to Serve (East) / Fiji Division 27: Social Service Sunday / Fiji Division 28: Fiji Sevens (East) / Fiji Division 28 April–4 May: Red Shield Appeal Week 29: Red Shield Appeal Breakfast / Wellington

NZ Election 2014 The Salvation Army’s Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit will be releasing video resources exploring critical issues ahead of the Saturday 20 September General Election in New Zealand.

Please contact the unit to pre-order. p: (09) 262 2332, e: socialpolicy@nzf. salvationarmy.org

View our Catalogue Online The Booth College of Mission library in Upper Hutt has everything you’ve been looking for to build your knowledge and faith.

PRAYER FOCUS Please pray for: Hawera, Hibiscus Coast, Hutt City, Invercargill and Johnsonville Corps, Blue Mountain Adventure Centre, The Salvation Army in Mali.

Hours: The library is staffed Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 4:45 pm.

Membership: Officers and staff may join the library without charge. Others may apply to become external borrowers ($50 annually).

Postal charges may apply.

Circulation Policies: Loan period: Six weeks / Renewals: May be made by phone, email or in person. All titles subject to recall / Reference books and assignment books: not available for loan.

Contact: Librarian Beverley McKenzie, p: (04) 528 8628, e: library@nzf. salvationarmy.org, web: salvationarmy.org.nz/boothcollege

OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS Commissioners Robert (Territorial Commander) and Janine Donaldson (Territorial President of Women’s Ministries) 4–6 April: Delve Conference 8 April: National Chaplains Workshop 9 April: Central Division Women’s Rally 13 April: Levin Corps 15 April: Red Shield Appeal Launch / Wellington 16 April: Spiritual Day / Booth College of Mission 18-20 April: Easter Weekend / Whangarei Corps 29 April: Education and Employment Workshop / Wellington Colonels Graeme (Chief Secretary) and Wynne Reddish (Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries) 5 April: Aro Street Training College Centennial Celebration

To advertise your event, email: warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org

SALVATION ARMY JOB OPPORTUNITIES ONLINE Go to salvationarmy.org.nz/employment

JUST ACTION 2014

in Our Backyard Be inspired and challenged by our guest speaker from the UK, Russell Rook, along with locals who are making a difference.

DUNEDIN Thurs 21 August CHRISTCHURCH Sat 23 August WELLINGTON Tues 26 August AUCKLAND Thurs 28 August salvationarmy.org.nz/justaction

facebook.com/justactionnz

18 WarCry§05 April 2014

LEADERSHIP LINKS

Love our neighbour, value our diversity, appreciate and respect all people.

Close to Territorial Headquarters is a unique little business.

I occasionally walk past it and am always fascinated enough to pause and look in the window. The name of the business is ‘The Barking Lot’. A creative name accurately describing what they do—it’s a day-care facility for dogs. In the front room, around 20 dogs of all shapes and sizes amiably share the space.

Somehow these dogs have learned to share their space and live comfortably with their diversity.

When I was at university, there was a phrase that was part of our vocabulary: valuing diversity. This is the concept of recognising and appreciating diversity and the unique and individual gifts every person brings to the world. There is a distinct difference between tolerating diversity and valuing diversity. Tolerating diversity or even accepting diversity is a passive state. Valuing diversity implies a depth of respect and appreciation for the differences and contributions of every person, no matter what race, creed or colour. Could this be what Jesus intended when he gave his new commandment?

When Jesus was asked for the most important command, he gave a clear decisive response. Mark 12:32-34 tells us to ‘Love the Lord your God with your whole heart soul and mind and to love your neighbour as yourself.’ When asked ‘who is my neighbour?’ (Luke 10 25-37), Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to illustrate that our neighbour is not necessarily the person we feel comfortable with but also the person whom we might regard as different, feel uncertain when near, and even be inclined to pass negative judgement upon. For the Jewish people of that day, the Samaritan race was regarded as impure and unclean. But in telling this parable Jesus threw a challenge in their faces. Perhaps this could be described as valuing diversity.

What does Jesus’ command mean to us today? Our world has become smaller and we interact with people of different races and cultures far more frequently. Our own nation is on a journey of strengthening our understanding of biculturalism.

As Christians we seek to live out the command of Jesus in this context. ‘Love our neighbour, value our diversity, appreciate and respect all people’—is this not the command of God to each of us? Everyone is created in God’s image, and Jesus calls us to recognise the image of God in each other and respond to this.

Who are the Samaritans today, in our world and in our personal lives? The command to love our neighbour as expanded

by Jesus in the parable makes it quite clear that we cannot dwell in our difference but reach out into our commonality. This is both a personal and a corporate challenge: to show the love of God by demonstrating genuine love for one another.

If you happen to be in central Wellington, check out The Barking Lot for yourself. Whether you see yourself as a tall Doberman or a small Chihuahua, or any creation in between, we are all called to live in harmony.

Lieut-Colonel Lynette Hutson Territorial Secretary for Business Administration

Winning on the Mission Field We can learn a lot from the inspirational leadership of Rugby Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens

BY ROD CAREY Gordon Tietjens might just be the best sports coach that New Zealand has ever produced. At his induction into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2012, it was said of Gordon that his ‘roll of honour’ is without peer in the game of Sevens, and perhaps in the game of rugby as a whole. As coach of the men’s All Blacks Sevens team, Tietjens has coached them to 11 series titles in the IRB Sevens World Series, two Rugby World Cup Sevens crowns, and gold medals in all four Commonwealth Games featuring Rugby Sevens. Last year, he was awarded the Knight Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit.

Surely, one of the reasons underlying Tietjens’s successes has been his uncanny ability to spot talented young players. He puts them through a rigorous training schedule, mentors and guides them in the finer arts of Sevens, and then unleashes them onto the world stage with devastating effect. Over 36 players have gone on to become All Blacks in the 15 man game. Household names like Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Joe Rokocoko, Mils Muliaina and, more recently, Victor Vito and Ben Smith.

In September last year at our Salvation Army Congress in Auckland, the New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory launched the next phase of our Territorial Strategic Mission Plan (TSMP).

Since 2006, TSMP has been incredibly successful across the territory in giving direction and traction to missional outcomes.

The results of a territorial-wide survey last year gave overwhelming support for continuation of the plan. It also highlighted that a critical factor to achieving our mission goals is an urgent need for an ongoing focus on leadership development.

You see, more leaders will enable us to seize new opportunities, and better leaders will help us to be more effective I’d love a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone at a corps or centre say something like: ‘we are desperately short of leaders’, ‘we’ll have to close [this activity] because there isn’t anybody to do it’, or ‘if only we could find a champion for that cause.’

I’ve also sat on countless divisional boards and overheard

Photography: New Zealand Herald/Brett Phibbs

Mission Matters 19

numerous corridors conversation at Territorial Headquarters where the same sentiment is expressed: ‘Where are all our upcoming leaders?’ And ‘How much more could we do if we had more leaders with capacity and competency?’

There is no doubt in my mind that people are our greatest resource. We don’t need more programmes, property or profits, but we do need more people. People willing to be involved in our mission, people willing to engage in the salvation fight, people willing to stand up and say, ‘Count me in!’

But when I look at Tietjens I start to suspect that the problem isn’t that we don’t have these people. Maybe we simply haven’t spotted their talent, seen their potential, sidled up to them, tapped them on the shoulder and made ‘the ask’.

So maybe we can learn something from the example of New Zealand’s most successful sporting coach. If this can be done for the game of Rugby Sevens and the glory of a world series or silver trophy, how much more do we need to embrace the goal of developing leaders to serve the glory of God and the mission of Jesus Christ. Surely we all know that a crown of life is a higher stake than a silver trophy!

So, what can we do to achieve our TSMP leadership goal to ‘develop leaders’, and thereby advance God’s kingdom on earth?

1. Personal Development. Each one of us should take responsibility to develop ourselves into the best leader we can be.

Someone once said that ‘Leaders are readers’. Read widely. Ensure you take every opportunity to train yourself up. Get as spiritually fit as you can.

Many people today have fitness trainers to motivate them to achieve their fitness goals. We can ask someone to be our spiritual coach or mentor and hold us accountable for personal development.

1 Timothy 4: 8 says ‘Physical training is of some value, but spiritual exercise is valuable in every way.’ I’m sure Tietjens never chose a player who didn’t first show personal discipline in their fitness and development.

2. Identify Potential Leaders. Sure, they might be a bit rough around the edges or not offer the complete package yet, but they show promise. They might be passionate about a particular ministry.

They might be asking a lot of missional questions. They are probably already volunteering or serving in some capacity. People may already be naturally following their godly lead and influence.

Try to identify natural talent and spiritual gifting within your circle of influence. Remember that ‘man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart’ (1 Samuel 16:7).

3. Recruit. I’m convinced there are competent and godly leaders within our movement that would willingly lead in some capacity and are simply waiting for someone to ask them. How many of us would still be paddling around in the shallows if someone hadn’t asked us to

wade out into the deep?

Bill Hybels Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago tells the story of his seminary lecturer, Dr Gilbert Bilizekian, regularly asking if he would accept the challenge to start a church like the one in the book of Acts. Acts 6:5 says, ‘They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.’ Who might God be asking you to help choose?

4. Equip and Empower. Two focus words give clarity to our goal of developing leaders. The first of these is equip. We need to help people develop the skills to lead effectively. The second is empower.

We need to encourage and authorise leaders to have a go, while providing support. We’ve perhaps witnessed petrol being poured onto a bonfire and seen the spectacular results. Encouragement is fuel for fledgling leaders. It’s the wind in their sails. 1 Thessalonians tells us: ‘Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.’

Equipping and empowering is about fuelling passion and skills in someone’s life and helping them to blaze for God. 5. Deploy. When you think about it, though, Tietjens’s greatest success is not in identifying, recruiting, training or equipping young Sevens players; it’s having the confidence and courage to put them on the field and watch them succeed and win. I recall watching Jonah Lomu run onto the field for the first time. It was incredible! Not only did he run onto the field but he ran over everyone on the field that got in his way.

Leaders need to be deployed into action and given the freedom and trust to make their own unique contribution and impact. Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Just as the father has sent me, so I am sending you’ (John 20:21).

I’m the first to celebrate all that has been achieved in TSMP outcomes in recent years. But now is the time to take our game to the next level with greater wins on the mission field. To that end we need to develop more and better leaders. Let’s learn from the example of Tietjens and be on the lookout for the next crop of great leaders. And who knows, perhaps you’re one of those?

Lieut-Colonel Rod Carey is Territorial Secretary for Programme and Territorial Strategic Mission Plan Champion.

Equip: help people develop the skills to lead effectively Empower: encourage and authorise leaders to have a go while providing support

GOD & FAITH

Be Your Own Hero What an over-tanned Hollywood hottie can teach us about living like Jesus.

So I’ve got my bowl of popcorn (okay it’s a table full of chocolate and chips), got the duvet, and the girls are around for a chick flick. It’s pretty much my perfect Friday night.

And then it all goes wrong: someone busts out a Matthew McConaughey movie.

That’s when I get all eye-rolly and annoyed. An MMM (Matthew McConaughey Movie) means one thing: he struts up acting all sexist and arrogant, shows off his pecs, and for some reason, the ladies are supposed to swoon.

But I was checking out the Academy Awards a few weeks ago, and there’s MM himself—a bit skinnier, but still looking orange and a little too wrinkle-free to be normal. So far, so MM. But then he won an actual Oscar, and this next bit blew me away …

Matthew McConaughey (let’s just call him MM, it’s easier to spell) began his speech: ‘First off I want to thank God—because that’s who I look up to. He has graced my life with opportunities I know are not of my hand or any human hand.’

You could be cynical and say that MM is just being ‘a Southern boy’.

And I’m not saying that he’s a dedicated follower of Jesus, but I also don’t think God is cynical.

And I think God loves it when we acknowledge him in our lives—no matter what our lives look like.

I [went away and came back and said], “I’ve thought about it—it’s me in 10 years!”

It’s like, the way you live right now, is training for the kind of person you will become in the future.

So I turned 25 and that same person came to me and said, “So are you a hero?” I was like, “Not even close. My hero is me at 35.”

This is how the Bible puts it: ‘What a person plants, he will harvest.

The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others— ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life’ (Galatians 6:7-8 The Message).

Every day, every week and every month and every year of my life, my hero is always 10 years away. I’m never going to be my hero. I’m not going to attain that—I know I’m not. That’s just fine with me because it gives me someone to keep on chasing.’

Be your own hero

Okay, the Kiwi part of me thinks that calling yourself your own hero is a little bit smug. But, actually, there’s a lot of biblical truth in what MM was saying that I find pretty inspiring.

I think MM was onto something when he talked about being your own hero, but it’s not just about living like the person you want to be. It’s about what kind of person you want to be.

The ‘future you’

So, how worthwhile are your dreams?

Another way of putting it is: what kind of person do you want to be in 10 years’ time? A wise-old-owl-typeperson asked me that question once.

I thought that I would like to be more like Jesus. I would like to be kind, loving, welcoming to people. And more concerned about others, than about what others think of me.

‘I wanna be a billionaire so freakin’ bad. Buy all the things I never had,’ says our boy Bruno Mars. It pretty much sums up what our culture lives for. More money. A bigger house.

A better car. A better body. More stuff. But all we actually gain is more debt. And more misery. This is a false dream that doesn’t reap anything really rewarding, wonderful or truly life giving.

So I started to listen, and then MM got all Pentecostal preacher on it, and told this intriguing story:

Then, the wise-old-owl-type-person asked me: are you living like that now? Ouch. I knew I wasn’t really. I loved Jesus and tried to follow his ways, but I put too much energy into things like looking good and being hip, and having fun with friends.

Few things in my everyday life were helping me become less self-centred and more loving.

‘When I was 15 years old I had a very important person in my life come to me and say: “Who’s your hero?” …

I realised that to become the person I wanted to be in 10 years’ time, I had to start acting like that person today.

Ingrid Barratt

On the other hand, Jesus talked a lot about the things that make life truly meaningful. He said that if we give away our life, if we live for others and let go of all the things our culture tells us to hold tightly to, we’ll find true life (Matthew 10:39).

If Jesus were around today, I wonder if he’d tell a parable like this: There was this guy, and he wanted to help people that were living in poverty.

But first of all, he thought he had better make lots of money himself and buy a house so he could be financially secure. Guess what? He made lots of money and bought a house. And he forgot about his original dream.

There was a girl, and she thought that if she looked like Beyoncé she would be cool and accepted. So she worked out heaps, and got in with the cool crowd and wore the right clothes. And guess what? She did end up looking a bit like Beyoncé, but she was left wondering if anyone accepted the real her.

Then there was this guy that worked at Pak’nSave, and he just wanted to help others with what he had. He noticed that there was a homeless man who sat outside his shop, so he started making him lunch every day. The word got round, and others started coming to him asking for lunch. Instead of saying, ‘Nah’, he said, ‘Yeah.’ He even managed to get some free buns and stuff to give away—and soon there was a gathering of people every lunch time, laughing and eating, and enjoying each other’s company.

Then, I imagine Jesus saying, ‘Who do you think discovered real life? The wealthy man, the beautiful girl, or the guy that worked at Pak’nSave?’

And I reckon we all know the answer to that question.

The guys and gals that we call ‘heroes’ are the ones that live for something bigger than themselves.

Those who give themselves to a greater good, even sacrificing their own lives. In other words, people that live a lot like Jesus did.

FIREZONE.CO.NZ

05 APRIL 2014 | 21

The way you live right now, is training for the kind of person you will become in the future Doing it differently In a recent interview, MM talked about how he was getting bored with the movie roles he was getting, so he said to himself, ‘I’m going to have to stop doing what I’ve been doing’.

He says it was scary, but he decided to stop working, and turned down all his usual roles. It took two years before new roles starting coming.

If you want to be a different kind of person in the future, you have to start doing things differently. This can be scary, because it’s more comfortable to keep doing things the same way. It may mean giving something up, or taking a big risk, or letting yourself go through some challenging times. But as MM said in his Oscar speech, we have a God who can do greater things than us.

We can’t easily just stop bad habits and start doing things perfectly —only Jesus could really attain that—but it’s about the process of letting God change us. If we allow Jesus to know us and we spend time getting to know him, we can’t help but become more like him.

‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will,’ says Romans 12:2.

As we become more like Jesus, we discover the hero inside us. Jesus is the hero worth chasing.

FIREZONE.CO.NZ

OUT & ABOUT | 22

Join Our Team Red Shield Appeal is coming around again and we think it would be cool if as many young people as possible put their hands up to help out. Standing on the spot for an hour or two, meeting people and wearing a fluro vest may seem daunting, but here are some tips and tricks that should give you all the confidence you need to be a sweet-as collector.

Figure A: The Model Red Shield Collector 01. Ears Check out the ears—ain’t no headphones.

The Bible says to be quick to listen, and ya won’t be able to hear people who want to donate with headphones in. Be approachable.

02. Vest and ID See that the vest, with its Red Shield, and your lanyard holding your ‘authority to collect’ ID are visible (this shows you’re legit!). Salvation Army uniform or an obvious Salvation Army tee are also all good, bro.

04. Eyes Notice how the eyes are open and ready to meet others’ eyes, and not staring at the ground or a cell phone. Avoid sunglasses.

Even if you do squint a little into the bright NZ glare, you’ll look more friendly and trustworthy with the sunnies off.

05. Mouth See how the mouth is smiling. This is a good way to avoid scaring people or their children/ dogs. Smiling is friendly and warm. Try it.

06. Armpits

03. Hand Wow, look at that: no cell phone! There’s really no need to get your phone out while collecting, that’s why pockets were created —let pockets live out their purpose and keep ya phone in it.

This collector is free to lift her arms out from her body to hold the bucket. That’s because she showers regularly and uses deodorant —good job, Sam! Do likewise. (If donors are running away from you, this is one of the first things to check!)

07. Bucket

Figure B: Bucket

It may not be obvious from this simple 2D diagram, but this collector is holding the bucket still and directly in front of them, slightly out from the body. Avoid shaking the bucket, hugging the bucket, sitting on the bucket … or forgetting the bucket.

08. Posture See how this collector is standing upright, not lying down asleep on the ground. Stay alert!

09. Shoes Notice how this collector is not wearing stilettos or swimming flippers. Any comfortable shoes are a-okay.

Note the super readiness of this collector: positioning fresh stickers onto the bucket in any donation lulls. Clever collectors will arrange these in patterns or quirky formations. Give it a crack.

* Other key traits not visibly present: • A positive attitude • Warm, fuzzy thoughts and feelings for being able to stand side by side with those people who need our help the most.

Sunday the 13th of April is celebrated as Palm Sunday. The week before Jesus died he was welcomed into Jerusalem by a huge crowd of people.

Jesus and the disciples were going to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, a special feast that remembered the time when God set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt.

Jesus was riding on a donkey and everyone waved branches from palm trees and shouted, ‘Hosanna!’ as Jesus rode by. That means ‘Save us now!’

Fun4Kids | 23

CAN YOU FIND 10 DIFFERENCES?

HOW MANY SQUARES? The diagram below shows a pattern made up of squares. How many squares can you see?

How many words can you make from the word ‘DONKEY’? Can you find one five-letter word?

r hot What do you get if you pou e? hol bit rab a water down Hot cross bunnies!

What kind of music do bunnies like?

Hip Hop.

What happened to the egg when he was tickled?

He cracked up.

What type of stories do bunnies like?

Furry tales.

Answers: 24 squares; at least 17 words—the 5 letter word is ‘yoked’.

READ IT

Cate

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!’

John 12:11

LET’S TALK The Jewish crowd that cheered for Jesus on Palm Sunday thought he was an earthly king who would wear a king’s crown and save them from their Roman rulers, but Jesus was a different kind of king.

He wanted to rule over people’s hearts—the crown he was going to wear was a crown of thorns.

Jesus knew he was on the way to the cross, and that he would soon die a painful death. But that was his mission: to give his own life so that everyone could have the chance to have their sins forgiven and be friends with God again. And, of course, because Jesus was God, he didn’t stay dead, but came back to life again (more about this next time).

It’s almost Easter, and it’s easy to get excited about Easter because it’s a time for school holidays and yummy Easter eggs. But this year, take some time to think about the price Jesus paid so that we could be saved. That’s really worth getting excited about!

LET’S PRAY Cate says, Jesus, I am sorry that some of the people who cheered for you, then turned on you and put you to death. But thank you for coming to earth to die in my place. I ask you to be my king and to rule over my heart and my life.

Amen.