The Limitless Love of God As a young man Richard Kerr-Bell read Mother Teresa’s biography and fell in love with the God she served. A formative experience working with the poorest of the poor in Los Angeles, opened Richard’s eyes and heart to the expansive, limitless love God has for all people. Richard is The Salvation Army’s tumu whakarae (operations manager) for te Rūnanga nationally, and he believes this new role is the culmination of everything he has learnt so far. My deepest connection is to the Hokianga. While I whakapapa to Ngā Puhi, Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri and Ngāti Kuri, as we say in the north if you are related to Rāhiri (founding ancestor of Ngā Puhi), you are related to everyone! My grandfather came to New Zealand from Scotland when he was 21. He fell in love with a Māori woman, so his family disowned him. But they married anyway and started a family. Sadly, she died, so her cousin was sent to help with the kids. In time she became my grandfather’s second wife, but she also died. Another cousin—my grandmother—was sent to help, and the couple had 12 more children (there were 26 in total) with my dad being the second eldest of that third family. The marae I feel the strongest connection to is Aotea Marae, Hokianga, where my grandmother planted 13 different species of flax. Every Christmas we would go and stay with my grandmother and go fishing around the harbour and listen to all the stories she had to share. The whare tūpuna (meeting house) is Te Kaiwaha and the hapū (tribe) is Ngāti Whārara—one of three hapu who have the responsibility of carrying the story of the harbour.
Formative experiences When I was about 18 years old, I travelled around with my uncle (Edward Buck Dawson) so I could learn about my whakapapa (genealogy). My grandmother was unwell and it seemed increasingly likely she wouldn’t live much longer. I realised there would be no one who could speak on behalf of my family at her tangi (funeral), so I went to Hoani Waititi Marae and 18
Pēpuere February 2024
did a nine-month full immersion course. When my grandmother died, my uncle called me up to speak. That was such a formative experience for me and an important part of my story. I was in the Air Force for a few years, but coming from a practicing Catholic family of faith, I left after reading Mother Teresa’s biography. I was deeply moved by her absolute faith in God and her limitless love for the most vulnerable. In downtown LA, Mother Teresa had a group of brothers who cared for people who had been left on the street for various reasons. I wrote and asked if I could come and join in the work, and they said yes. Living in LA with the brothers was an incredible experience. We’d get up to pray at 5.30am, before visiting people in the ghettos and homeless shelters. We’d visit elderly people that no one cared about, do their washing and tend to their sores. LA is always warm, so when we visited people who hadn’t washed in a while, where there was rubbish piled up and the stench of urine was oppressive, it was certainly challenging. But my time caring for the poor anchored in my soul a faith that trusted absolutely in the limitless love of God. Once you have that, irrespective of what comes next, you can’t not believe in God’s love, because you can’t undo that experience. It was during my time in LA that God taught me I could serve anyone, anywhere, without fear. (I also got to meet Mother Teresa, and she was a rock star!)
Confronting racism When I returned to New Zealand, I got a job at the Pakuranga Shell Station which was the biggest in the
