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Kei Konei te Rongopai! The Gospel is Here!
Ahakoa i tae mai ngā mihingare ki Aotearoa me ō rātau māramatanga ki te rongopai i ngā tau 1800 neke atu, nō mua rā anō i te taetanga mai o tauiwi a Ihu Karaiti i poropitiatia ki ngā kupu whakaari o te iwi Māori. Toru tau tōmua i te taenga mai o Kāpene Kuki i hua mai te poropiti o Arama Te Toiroa i te tau 1776 i meatia:
‘Te ingoa o tō rātou Atua, ko Tama-i-rorokutia, he Atua pai, otirā, ka ngaro anō te tāngata.’
Kei tēnei whakaputanga, a Rūtene Kānara Hutson e ruku ai ngā tai o mahara ki te wā i whitiwhiti whakaaro ā ia ko Sally Rankin o Te Ope Whakaora, kia tūhono ai tōna (a Sally) peka Māori ki tōna peka o Te Ope Whakaora. He pāoro anō tēnei nō ngā takiringa poropiti Māori me rātau hoki ngā kaiwhakamārie ki ngā iwi, i whāngai ake te rongopai o Ihu Karaiti ki te motu. Nā te mārama ki tō rātau ahurea i ngāwari noa tēnei hikoi, he nohonga tapatahi nō tō rātau taha wairua ki ō te ahurea. E arahi ana Te Atua i a tātau kia whakatairanga i a tātau ake hanga rongomaiwhiti, hei hua e taupua ai, e taumata hoki ai te Kingitanga o Te Atua.
Although missionaries brought their understanding of the gospel to New Zealand in the 1800s, there have been records of Māori prophets sharing about Jesus years before the Europeans arrived. In 1776, Arama Te Toiroa shared this prophecy three years before the arrival of Captain Cook:
‘The name of their God will be Tama-irorokutia (Son who was killed), a good God, however the people will still be oppressed.’
In this issue, Lt-Colonel Ian Hutson mentions a memory he has of Māori Salvationist Sally Rankin, who shared about her dream of having the Māori part of her come together with her Salvation Army part. There are echoes of this in these Māori prophets and of Māori who acted as evangelists towards other iwi, sharing te rongopai (the gospel) of Jesus across the country. They were able to do this so well because of their understanding of how their faith could interact with their culture. The Lord guides us to use our unique skills and background for the growth and care of his kingdom.
