5 minute read
BUILD YOUR HOUSE ON THE ROCK
BUILD
YOUR HOUSE
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ON THE
ROCK LIZ EICHLER | SUNZ Children and Families Team Leader
At the end of 2021, the Children and Families team were wrestling with how to continue to provide training at a time when Covid was still prevalent. All three WAY2GO conferences in 2020 were cancelled. We had managed to run the Dunedin and Auckland events in 2021, but the Wellington conference was cancelled at very late notice due to the city abruptly going into Level 2, which restricted our gathering size. We found ourselves in an interesting situation in late 2021; alert levels were on their way out and the country was struggling to understand the Traffic Light system. It was an uncertain time and, to a degree, life continues in much the same vain. What we did know was that we wanted to continue to provide the high-quality training that we had become known for and we wanted to continue to serve the church—in particular, the children and families of Aotearoa New Zealand. We went back to basics and asked ourselves ‘’what are the key aspects we want to communicate to those involved in children’s ministry in 2022?” When we considered how a child’s connection with God is nurtured, we realised that we needed to put the First Things First. But what were they? This was the question that we focussed on as we explored together the importance of prioritising a deep faith, grounded in the Bible and prayer, and how the church
can encourage lifelong faith in children and their families. Using the visual aid of needing to fill a jar with rocks and sand, we demonstrated the best way to get everything in the jar was to put the rocks in first, then the stones, followed finally by the sand. The first effort of sand first, then rocks, and then stones was unsuccessful. By asking the participants to think about what had helped their faith to grow, we were then able to consider what the ‘rocks’—or what the most vital parts—of children’s ministry are. We found that the common words or themes that the participants contributed aligned well with what we had been thinking about as a team. These were: Connection to God, Connection to God’s story (the Bible), Connection as family/ whānau and Connection to others. These were the rocks on which we built our WAY2GO children’s ministry training conferences on for 2022. They are all outlined later in this Adventure Magazine. I am reminded of a song we used to sing at Sunday School ‘The wise man built his house upon the rock’, based on the passage found in Matthew 7 and Luke 6. These words are about having firm foundations, hearing God’s words, and obeying them. There are ramifications of doing the opposite, as the passages also state.
Here in the Wellington office, we’re watching the new City Mission building go up next door to us. It’s taking quite a while to get off the ground, so to speak, and whilst I’m no builder in the practical sense, it’s obvious that good foundations are vital to any building. The same can be said for those of us in ministry, good foundations are vital. Often, they’re already there, we’ve just lost sight of them in the busy-ness that we find ourselves in and the distractions that are a constant. Those foundations are the why of our ministry, the foundations out of which our how and what flow. We need to remind ourselves why we are doing this, in order to be able to answer how we do it and specifically what we do. Firm foundations are hard to grasp at times, especially in a world where there is so much change. Some would say that the only constant is change. I’m not sure about that, but what I do know is that the world that we know is very different to the one my Cornish immigrant grandparents knew. Some of us delight in change, others do not. Change is a challenge, with some more equipped for this than others. There’s a book doing the rounds at the moment, Canoeing the Mountains, Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory by Ted Bolsinger—and it’s a fascinating read. This book explores the challenges that church leaders face in the 21st century. The book is a response to what we’ve all known for quite a while, that we now live in a post-Christendom world. 'The seventeen hundred years of Christianity at the privileged centre of Western cultural life is over. Christendom as a marker of society has clearly passed.' (p.12) That in itself is a huge change, not just for those of us in Christian leadership, but for the whole church. Note that this is referring to Christendom, not
Christianity. The world we live in needs a Saviour just as much if not more than it did when first hinted at in the Old Testament. In amongst the swirl of change, what I do know is that God’s love for us stays the same, the firm foundation for us all, the why of our ministry which, along with the great commission, Jesus gave to his disciples at the end of his earthly ministry. ‘Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples’, (Matthew 28:19), is the constant for us. Let’s all be wise, putting our trust in the firm foundation of Christ, whose love never changes, who goes before us into a world we’re not sure of, but are still called to serve and love.
PŌNUI ISLAND FISHING ADVENTURE
Pōnui Island, Hauraki Gulf 16 - 21 April 2023 School Year 9 -13 in 2023
BOYS ONLY Cost TBC (includes barge trip to Island and return)
Weather and tides permitting, we’ll be enjoying various types of fishing over the week including boat, land based (beach and point), barge fishing off the Pōnui cattle barge, long lining in the bay and kayak fishing. We’ll also be spending an hour or two each day reflecting on some of the big questions of life and faith.
CHECK OUT SUCAMPS.0RG.NZ FOR MORE DETAILS
Weekends in 2023 For school Years 11-13 in 2023
WILD WĀHINE
GIRLS ONLY
This is a beginner level tramp and suitable for all levels of experience—as long as you’re keen to get outdoors, move your body, meet some cool gals, and have a positive time you’ll be right!
