JANUARY 2019
catching the wave There’s an exciting wave to be caught that will surge the church forward as we seriously rethink the way we do discipleship with children and families.
INSIDE CATCHING THE WAVE
WAY2GO - A 15 YEAR JOURNEY IN CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
YOU’RE LOSING US
editorial
The pain coming from the woman sitting beside me was hard to watch. ‘My daughter doesn’t go to church anymore,’ she said. ‘I tried so hard when she was young but now she’s a young adult and she has just walked away.’ Sadly, we are at a point in history where stories like this are common. The enormous loss of children and young people from our churches and many from faith as well, is changing the church landscape of our country. At Scripture Union New Zealand we’ve been reflecting on this, and hearing God’s call to rethink discipleship and examine what it takes to help children and young people become lifelong disciples who serve the world around them. We are seeking to inspire churches to understand that discipleship needs to be intentional and that the way they help children
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and young people engage with the Bible and prayer is crucial for creating a lifelong relationship with God. We are looking to support churches as they develop innovative and effective methods of faith formation. We want to offer churches tools to use as they seek to connect with children and youth as well as their families and whānau. We’ve identified that faith formation is made up of a number of components that work together: • Real encounters with God • Positive peer communities • Intergenerational relationships • Mentoring • Knowing the big story of the Bible • Compassion and opportunities to serve • Transitions and rites of passage • Family and whānau nurture
All are important and it is the synergy between them that makes them effective. We can’t focus on just one or two of these factors and ignore the others. Lifelong discipleship is what we’re all about! Our dream and our prayer for children and young people right across Aotearoa, New Zealand is for a faith that grows into a way of life: a faith that is strong and resilient; a faith that will help them through their own lives and also enable them to impact the lives of the people around them. Let me tell you the story of Ani (name changed to protect identity): Last year Ani decided she wanted to be a friend of God. I talked with her and gave her a Bible to read as she went home. I rang her regularly and prayed with her over the phone. Then one day Ani told me ‘I’m happy when I read my Bible. But I’m not happy at school. I don’t have any friends at school and so I’m going to take my Bible to school.’ The next day Ani rang me really excited: ‘Someone’s invited me to their church’. Ani went along and has been going ever since. That church has tucked her into their hearts. She is making friends, she’s happy,
and best of all she is growing in her faith. I can see the growth when she talks to me. I have hope for her future. We want to inspire this sort of discipleship in children and young people. This is crucial if there is to be a culturally engaging church for the next generation. As you read Adventure magazine take a look at how we weave this vision of lifelong discipleship though our children and families ministries. And please pray along with us for the children and young people of New Zealand. And if you want to talk about some of these things please ask us!
Ngā mihi nui
HILARY HAGUE
National Director Scripture Union New Zealand
JANUARY 2019 3
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019 2 N E I N D JU 8 E N DU LAND 22 JUNE 2019 AUCKINGTONMATION VISIT L L INFOR Z/WAY2GO E E R O W FOR M UNZ.ORG.N W.S WW
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contents Features 6
CATCHING THE WAVE
10
WAY2GO - A 15 YEAR JOURNEY IN CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
Nigel Winder
Annette Osborne
12
YOU’RE LOSING US
14
BUILDING FAITH AT SUPAKIDZ CAMP
19
REACHING THE OTHER 90%
20
Penny Yeoman
Andrew Ramsbottom Paul Dadd
BITE BY BITE
Liz Eichler
22
MEET THE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES TEAM
24
IT’S YOUR MOVE
Andy Banks
Interviews 8
Q&A
25
LIGHT FOR THE PATH
26
OUT AND ABOUT JANUARY
Primary aged kids Glenis Silby
Children’s Ministry 15
WAY2GO MAGAZINE
Resources 28
RESOURCES FOR LIFE
Produced by Jamuel Enriquez Edited by Janice Hunt Adventure Magazine Design by Anna Juden WAY2GO Magazine design by Windsor Creative
JANUARY 2019 5
catching the
wave
BY NIGEL WINDER Ch ildren an d Families Team Lead er, SU NZ
A sobering reminder of where the future of the church in NZ might be heading came out of the latest Children’s Ministry Survey He Eke Waka Noa — We’re All in the Waka Together. 50% of the New Zealand churches surveyed had 20 or less children aged 0-12 years. If we continue to lose over half of children before they reach their adult years then we will have a very serious crisis. 80% of people in the church are believed to have become followers of Jesus when they are a child. This too is a sobering reminder of where we should be focussing our energies and resources if we are serious about growing the church. The expectation that ‘If we run 6 www.sunz.org.nz
good programmes on Sunday morning, then the children will come’ is no longer a valid belief system to hold. Most churches celebrate if they get even their most devoted families attending church more than 50% of the time. It is well past time to be thinking about ministry beyond the walls of our traditional church services on a Sunday morning if we really want to be effective. The alarming rate at which the church in NZ is shrinking is not just a child evangelism problem. It’s a discipleship problem of all ages because the church needs maturing, growing, servant-hearted leaders who are willing to share and model their faith to help grow those new to faith.
I am reminded of the time I attempted to learn to surf. Despite my very best efforts I kept following the same pattern and getting the same result. Catch a wave; submerge the nose of the board; dig into the wave; slide off; tip forward; upend the board — and occasionally have the board crack me on the back of the head. After I had repeated this exercise more times than I am prepared to admit I was ready to give up. Then an older brother advised me to shift position to balance my weight more evenly on the board. I had instant success. It seems that surfing is about getting a number of things all right at the same time: balance; position; shifting weight; forward propulsion; catching the wave at just the right moment — not to forget the ability to withstand the cold, especially when surfing in Southland. There’s a bit of a parallel in our churches: we blindly continue to do what we have always done, when all that is required is a shift in our balance, weight and the focus we put on certain things. We also need to carefully balance a number of critical factors that are essential to forming healthy and lifelong faith.
• Love as we reflect the character of God in grace-filled relationships with God and each other. • The Bible and Jesus as our ultimate source of truth to find the right understanding of God and of ourselves. • Hope in Jesus for our transformation now and complete restoration in the future. I think there’s an exciting wave to be caught that will surge the church forward as we seriously rethink the way we do discipleship and examine where we are placing our emphasis while holding onto the timeless elements of love, truth and hope.
Want to know more about some of what our children’s ministry team do around NZ? To find out more please visit www.sunz.org.nz/childrenandfamilies
SUNZ has been facilitating discussions with churches through our ’You’re Losing Us’ workshops and other training events. Like the brother offering surfing tips, we are helping churches to reflect on their practice and identify where certain things have got out of balance or they have lost an important focus. Essential to our message is a careful weighting of truth, love and hope. Whether in church, community programmes, at home or through intergenerational interactions, It’s so important to have these three key elements coexist — different yet mutually dependent and connected.
JANUARY 2019 7
Q&A
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE STORY IN THE BIBLE? We asked a few primary aged kids at churches in NZ.
Jonah and the whale. Because he gets swallowed and that’s funny! Arlo, 5 years old.
I like the 12 disasters of Egypt… the plagues… I don’t know I don’t actually have any favourites but this one’s pretty cool. Boy, 7 years old.
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David and Goliath. David, 9 years old
When Jesus turned water into wine, because I find it so preposterous (pronounced ‘prepostrious’). Lilly, 9 years old.
Jesus being born because we get to see him on Christmas Eve at church. Jacob, 6 years old.
JANUARY 2019 9
WAY2GO - A 15 YEAR JOURNEY IN CHILDREN’S MINISTRY BY ANNETTE OSBORNE Ch ild ren and Families C onsultant, S U N Z
This year we celebrate 15 years of WAY2GO Children’s Ministry Conferences! Every year since that initial team imagined the possibilities way back in 2004, we have seen God’s faithfulness woven in and through these events. We are grateful to our faithful God who continues to use these conferences to inspire, equip and challenge. Walking alongside children in their journey of faith, is a precious and valued task, one that has its challenges and joy. And over these last 14 years of WAY2GO (and more!) Scripture Union NZ (SUNZ) has been working alongside children and families leaders to provide them with support and encouragement in their demanding roles in church and community. Our aim is to equip, to inspire and to challenge. And, all these years later we are encouraged to see this happening.
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We’ve seen around: • 1,050 fabulous workshops which have inspired people all around the country. • Three overseas speakers, and a host of local voices. • 7,300 bags packed with goodies, everything from DVD’s to Bibles to frisbees. • We have turned the lights on in 46 venues. • 9,200 filled rolls have been consumed Over 1,800 wonderful volunteers have been involved: leading workshops; praying for people; serving cups of tea; greeting people at the door.
Built on Biblical and Theologically Depth WAY2GO is fuelled from SUNZ’s conviction that good thinking and practice is derived from a place of biblical and theological depth. WAY2GO has something to offer anyone involved with children and families ministry: from the new leader needing a strong foundation to build on, through to the experienced leader looking for fresh thinking and re-energising; from the small church with a handful of children, through to a team of children’s ministry leaders from a larger church.
Here’s what some of our attendees have said: ‘Fun, inspiring and excellent. Full of ideas I will be using.’ ‘Really thought-provoking. An absolute highlight.’ ‘I head up my children’s ministry team and it was so encouraging to be somewhere where I learnt how to lead them well.’ ‘I had a fantastic day. Very encouraging. It has ignited new passion.’ ‘Well organized, very relevant and very Godbased. It was a privilege to be here.’
Weaving together Bible engagement, faith formation and our NZ context This year the WAY2GO conferences are tackling the topic of discipleship: how to best support children as we walk alongside them, work with them and reflect Jesus is all we do. We believe this is timely for the church of 2019 and beyond.
How can we support you? Come and join us at a WAY2GO conference in Auckland, Wellington or Dunedin this year. Or invite us to your town to present WAY2GO Focused, a smaller training event that is perfect for a cluster of churches. We can also help you with church consultancy and mentoring.
Connection is important As much as the content that is delivered, it is the conversations that go on over a cup of tea that often shape people’s experiences of a WAY2GO conference. It always gives me such a buzz to see children’s ministry leaders networking with others and gathering up the support they need. This is so important when their roles can at times feel isolating. A room full of passionate children’s ministry leaders has enough energy to power a small city, I am sure.
Get in touch today and find out how we can best support your church to grow lifelong disciples of Jesus.
We work with churches to help children and young people discover Jesus and become life-long disciples who serve the world around them. WAY2GO is happening May-June this year. For more information about WAY2GO please visit www.sunz.org.nz/way2go JANUARY 2019 11
You’re losing us BY PENNY YEOMAN
St Aidan ’s An glic an Church C hristchurch
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You’re Losing Us is a workshop we have created to help churches discover how to build life-long faith with their young people. Our Children and Families team created and present these workshops to help in response to the increasing number of young people leaving church. Last year we held a You’re Losing Us workshop in St Adan’s Anglican Church in Christchurch and we asked Penny Yeoman how the day went for them. A Scripture Union NZ (SUNZ) Adventure Magazine a few months back reminded me of a workshop I attended a few years earlier. How good would it be to run this as a church? To think, chat and pray together as a multigenerational family about how best to nurture faith in all of us — children and adults? Like many churches we see people who wander from the faith they have once enjoyed and we wonder what to do. So Nigel Winder, SUNZ Children and Families Team Leader, was encouraged to come up to Christchurch to run the workshop ’You’re Losing Us‘ for our church! We called it ‘Nurturing Life Long Faith’ and everyone from intermediate age upwards in the church received a personal invitation to the day. Younger members were invited in their family groups. The workshop was introduced prior to the Sunday and the eight key strategies of faith formation shared, encouraging discussions in house groups or thinking individually. We chose to run the workshop on a Sunday, starting with an all-age café style church service with a children’s and adult talk introducing questions on how we nurture lifelong faith development. The service was followed by morning tea and two one-hour sessions to explore eight key strategies of faith formation with lunch provided in the middle. Eight group facilitators
were prepped to know the key strategies and introduce the interactive components. They were also able to gather the feedback from their groups. A special children’s programme was run enabling parents to attend. Paul Humphreys, SUNZ South Island Camps Facilitator, ran this as a training session to equip some of his young leaders. At the end of the workshop Nigel encouraged us to reflect on how we are doing discipleship as a church. We have followed up with a gathering of the eight facilitators to share the varied responses of their groups, and some common themes are showing up. We hope in 2019 to look at one or two of these and encourage the church to look creatively at how we can work on these areas. Having an outside facilitator enabled us to be introduced to some new concepts and reminded us that it is a whole church responsibility nurturing each other’s faith. Nigel was able to captivate the young and stimulate the older members of our church. He managed to motivate and encourage us to be open to change what we might be doing in order to support each other strategically in our faith journeys. People’s responses to the day were naturally varied but in general most found it a helpful way to contribute by sharing ideas. All recognise it is an ongoing conversation. The big question is ’where to from here?’ and our church leadership continues to use the feedback as we plan ahead. It was a busy few hours as we were challenged to explore ways to help each other within the context of our church family. Thanks Nigel Winder and Paul Humphreys for your wise and encouraging input and SUNZ for your continued support to churches for growing lifelong disciples.
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Building Faith at SUPAKidz Camps BY ANDREW RAMSBOTTOM
Ch ildren an d Families Co nsultant, SUNZ
Going to a five-day camp for the first time as an eight-year-old can be quite daunting. That’s why our SUPAkidz camps very intentionally create a temporary community that aims to welcome children by giving them a sense of belonging, safety, fun and excitement. These temporary communities are places where children in the last three years of primary school can explore who God is through the Bible. There are lots of fun activities interspersed with times of Bible exploration and reflection. The Bible activities allow for self-exploration as well as guided learning in a fun and stimulating environment. Leaders aim to model and then help children get into a habit of having a quiet time each morning. Reading parts of the Bible out loud to the campers at the end of the day with a reflection tool called Faith 5 is another of the strategies we use intentionally to help form faith — that we hope will be lifelong — in the children. The camps are also opportunities to invest time in growing faith in our volunteer leaders. 14 www.sunz.org.nz
Before each camp the SUNZ team spend a weekend with the leaders, equipping them and preparing them for their key role at camp. This includes some of the obvious things like safety, working with children in small groups and getting familiar with the programme. We spend time digging into the Bible passages that we will be exploring with the campers. Leaders are given time to prepare for sharing their own faith walk with the children at camp: time is devoted to quiet and prayer and we ask leaders to write their testimony down and then share it with the team in preparation for sharing with the campers during camp. Some parents have told us their children have returned home with a new enthusiasm for the Bible, and have even insisted that the family gather at the end of the day to use the Faith 5 system to reflect! Our prayer is that the leaders will also return to their own communities and churches passionate about continuing to share their faith with children and their families.
REACHING THE OTHER 90% BY PAU L DA D D A u ckl an d C h i l dren an d Families Wo r ker, SUNZ
Only 10% of the one million children aged 0-15 years in New Zealand are connected with a church according to the recent One Million Children conference. That means we have a challenging and urgent task to share the good news of Jesus with nine hundred thousand other Kiwi children who won’t walk through our church doors this week. Scripture Union NZ (SUNZ) is committed to helping the church to re-imagine mission and reach this other 90%. A research report from Scripture Union UK this year evaluated the effectiveness of Scripture Union missions, and some of their findings help to describe what this reimagining might look like. Whether our mission activity is a camp, holiday programme or afterschool club, the report shows the following things will help us to be more effective in connecting with children in our community. Respond to the Needs of the Community Although missions often sought to address universal needs based on well-established models of youth and children’s work, they sometimes failed to address particular local needs because their approach heavily relied on what youth/children’s work typically looks like.
Focus on Relationships Rather than the Programme Missions that did this gave more opportunities for children and young people to explore faith and respond. Also, those that intentionally connected with families as well as children were often able to maintain long-lasting relationships. Be Distinctively Christian Often in our community-focused programmes, the Bible can come second to fun and entertainment. It’s as though we have lost confidence in bringing the Bible into the centre of our gatherings and allowing it to speak for itself. But witnessing and participating in Christian practice (like Bible reading, prayer and worship) had an impact on participants’ attitudes towards Christianity and on their own practice outside the group. Since the first beach mission in Llandudno over 150 years ago, Scripture Union has been committed to pioneering new ways of introducing the next generation to Jesus, and equipping churches with innovative resources and models to do the same. Now we’re looking ahead with these three simple but necessary shifts in the way we imagine mission with children and families. How can we help your church reach the other 90%? JANUARY 2019 19
Bite by bite BY L I Z E I C H L E R C h i l d re n an d Fam ilies Co n sultan t, SUNZ
‘What union are you with?’ challenged the person I was phoning — I guess I must have mumbled as I introduced myself as ‘Liz from Scripture Union’. It is a good question! What does Scripture Union mean? Well, to me, the heart of the matter is to do with Scripture, i.e. the Bible. And I’d like to suggest that Union could mean the coming together of a number of ways to engage with the Bible and the God thereof. Bible engagement is the foundation Scripture Union was built on and remains at the heart of all that we do. My own experience is a reflection of how Scripture Union NZ (SUNZ) encourages Bible engagement across all of our ministries.
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My mother gave me a Bible Reading Guide sometime in my adolescence. Apart from that that my earliest memory of being encouraged and guided to read my Bible was at Palmerston North Girls’ High School, when some skinny guy in shorts came to talk to our ISCF (Inter School Christian Fellowship) group. Turns out he was Stuart Salisbury, then National Co-ordinator of ISCF (SUNZ’s Schools Ministry). What has stuck in my mind over all the years since is how he loosely compared reading the Bible to eating an elephant – best tackled bit by bit, bite by bite, and not all at once! Throughout my years of being a camper, then leader, then director on SUNZ camps, the example of regular Bible reading in a thoughtful and considered way has been consistently modelled.
And now, as a parent and a Children’s Ministry Worker in my own church, opening the Bible with the children on a Sunday morning, and encouraging parents and families to engage with the Bible in a meaningful way for them as a family remains paramount for me. It is a guide book, a way of hearing from and learning about God. Besides the ‘elephant’ imagery, what has stuck with me is that Bible reading shouldn’t be daunting, but should rather be something that is manageable, and of course meaningful. It should also be natural, not an add-on to our lives, but something that occurs as naturally as remembering to brush your teeth. These verses, from Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 are a great guide: Memorize his laws and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. Through camps, clubs and school groups, the SUNZ distinctive is exploring the scriptures in community: what can we learn from God,
about God, and what we can share with others and speak into their lives with. In churches and community groups, exploring the Bible intergenerationally brings great colour, depth and challenge to all involved. A four-year-old I know, upon hearing the story of David and Goliath, exclaimed that Goliath’s mother must have been sad! How does one respond to a comment like this that doesn’t belittle it because of its cuteness, but rather acknowledges its validity? The Children and Families team at SUNZ has some fantastic training available to help both individuals and families. We have excellent resources for both engaging with the Bible corporately, and the individual disciplines of personal Bible reading and time with God. Have a look at our website for more information or just give one of us a call. And, of course, look out for WAY2GO, our children’s ministry training conferences that equip others to grow lifelong disciples who are built on strong foundations of Bible engagement and prayer.
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MEET THE SUNZ CHILDREN AND FAMILIES TEAM Nigel Winder Children and Families Team Leader Nigel is based in Invercargill and his role is to look after the national team of SUNZ Children and Families Consultants as well as overseeing the wider work of SU ministry in Otago/Southland. The Children and Families team works around the country to equip and train churches in their ministries to children and their families in both evangelism and discipleship. Nigel leads training for children’s ministry workers, coordinate children’s ministry support networks across denominations, share resources, and facilitate children’s clubs and camps. He is passionate about churches working in an intergenerational manner to enable effective faith formation for all generations. Annette Osborne Children and Families Consultant, Auckland Annette brings a theological depth and incredible creativity to opening the Bible with people of all ages and in her writing of resources such as the SUPAkidz programmes. Annette plays a major part in shaping the content of our training material. Her crafting of the ‘He waka eke noa’ national children’s ministry survey has provided an invaluable picture of trends in the church’s work with children and a benchmark by which churches can assess how they are going. Annette is currently seconded parttime by SU International to help the Scripture Union movement worldwide collaborate in the sharing of resources and support one another in the mutual desire to grow life-long disciples. 22 www.sunz.org.nz
Andrew Ramsbottom Children and Families Consultant, Auckland Andrew is a master of bringing the characters of the Bible to life using story-telling. He is passionate about the benefits of intergenerational connections in the family life of the church as a way to grow deeper faith for all ages. He is the life of the party on kids’ camps but balances this with his passion for God, the Bible and the development of young leaders. Paul Dadd Children and Families Consultant, Auckland Paul is an astounding reflective practitioner. His half-time role with SUNZ combined with his role as the Children and Families Worker for St Margaret’s in Hillsborough gives Paul the ability to practice what he preaches and speak from his own experiences of ministry. His humble, sincere and well thought-out approach to training, practice and ministry means you want to listen when he has something to say. Paul also writes the intermediate material “SURGE” for school clubs. Liz Eichler Children and Families Consultant, Wellington Liz’s role is to support and equip churches to grow the faith of their children and families, and provide leadership development and training for children’s ministry workers around the lower North Island. She gets alongside people, hear their stories, and encourage and resource them in their children’s ministry roles. She runs regular New Zealand Children’s Ministry Network groups in the Wellington– Kapiti region so that children’s ministry workers across the denominations can share ideas, needs and pray with each other. She also supports SUPAkidz clubs and SUPAkidz camps for primary-aged children. JANUARY 2019 23
BY ANDY BANKS Yo u t h C o n sultan t, SUNZ
You remember what it was like? That first day at high school! Going from being the biggest to being the smallest! This year thousands of year 8 students across New Zealand will be experiencing first moving on to high school for the first time too. And for many that experience brings about a huge range of emotions, from excitement all the way through to anxiety over what it will be really like. “Another thing that’s gonna be weird at high school is being in the youngest group in school. Apparently lots of people are really sour towards year 9’s which I think is pretty stink. I think that we should all be treated equally because everyone was a year 9 once!” Zoe Newton-Clark, (Heretaunga Intermediate School, Hastings) It’s Your Move! Is our exciting school transition programme and book aimed at helping students prepare for life in High School. It’s Your Move! serves as a tool to help churches build links with their local schools. Relationships can start with churches buying and giving out the books at their local full primary/intermediate schools, opening doors to further connections and growing friendship. In addition to sponsoring the books, churches can also, with the help, training and support of Scripture Union, lead It’s Your Move! assemblies, lessons, or school 24 www.sunz.org.nz
presentations in the schools towards the end of the school year. These programmes in which churches work with their young people who are often currently high school students, run as a lesson in the schools helping students understand what high school is like and give advice from those who’ve experienced it on how to make good choices and survive high school. Since its development over 12,000 students across New Zealand have benefited from the tips, advice, stories and information provided in the book since its development and well over 10,000 have benefited from school presentations and an opportunity to connect with and learn from current high school students. It’s Your Move! is the church in action in the community, connecting and supporting local schools and showing concern, love and support to the schools and their students, at a very significant and key time of their lives. For further information and advice on using It’s Your Move! in schools, please contact: Andy Banks at andy.b@sunz.org.nz or to order books check out our online resource shop. (www. sunz.org.nz and click on shop) “I just gave out the books in class after your presentation and they sat there reading silently for half an hour solid! They are never that quiet, particularly in the last week of the school year!” Yr 8 Teacher (Rangeview Intermediate, Auckland) “It’s Your Move is a great introduction to facing some of the challenges a 12 or 13 years old will come across when transitioning to high school.” Bex (Ranui Baptist, Auckland)
light for the path B E L O N G I N G T O G O D ’ S FA M I LY BY GLENIS SILBY
In the children’s programme I lead at Blockhouse Bay Baptist Church, Auckland, we have been looking at how God remained faithful to the promise He made to Abraham. His descendants would be God’s people. As we explored the book of Exodus, we saw how God sent Moses to rescue his people from slavery, so they would be free to know who God was and to live for him. That led us to spend a couple of weeks answering the question, ‘Who are God’s people today?’ ‘How do you belong to God’s family?’ The religious leaders of Jesus’ day thought they had the answer – obey the law! They thought they were important and that they were the ones to lead God’s people and build a solid nation. But Jesus told them they had it wrong. In fact, they were actually going to miss out on God’s kingdom because they had ‘rejected
the stone that was the most important of all’ (Matthew 21:42). The apostle Paul understood this too. In Galatians 2:16 (GNT) he wrote, ‘A person is put right with God only through faith in Jesus Christ, never by doing what the Law requires.’ Belonging to God’s family is neither about the things you do (coming to church, being nice to your neighbours) nor is it about the things you don’t do! Of course the things we do are important, but they come as a response to what Jesus has done for us — true faith responds with repentance, obedience and a desire to live like Jesus. However, God’s people are simply those who put their faith in Jesus. What a wonderful truth that is! It’s that simple it is for all to belong to God’s family. And what a privilege we have been given to share that with others — especially children.
JANUARY 2019 25
JAMUEL ENRIQUEZ
Photo from WAY2GO 2018
We have just finished our popular summer camping period. Phew! Praise God for a popular camping season for us where most of our camps where at full capacity. In this postsummer camp period we usually use this time to do a lot of important foundational back office work until the next busy season. Here at the Wellington office we will be busy doing
strategy and budget work as we head towards the end of the financial year. Even more exciting of course is that we are right in the middle of preparing for WAY2GO which is happening in May – June! Please spread the word and for more information check out our website www.sunz.org.nz/way2go
AUCKLAND
ANNETTE OSBORNE
SUPAkidz Landlubbers Camp
At the time of writing this the Auckland office is buzzing with preparation for our Landlubbers SUPAkidz Camp. We have a great leadership team, with three first time leaders joining us. Annette and Paul are leading this. The rest of the team are out and about on camps too. Andrew 26 www.sunz.org.nz
is at the Wellington SUPAkidz camp, Andy is on Exodus Prime and Sylvia is on the Ponui Bible Study Camp. As the New Year gets started there are school groups beginning, and preparation for our WAY2GO Children’s Ministry Conference. A lot is happening to get excited about. Ponui Camp changeover time Ponui Camp changeover time Camp changeover time at Kawakawa Bay Ponui at Kawakawa Bay at Kawakawa Bay
ngeover time y
NIGEL WINDER
Wild Wanaka youth camp
I write this in the week leading up to Christmas amongst an intensified flurry of activity. The two E3 expedition camps are in the final days of their ten-day journeys. The other three South Island summer camps are full as are many others around the country. Tents, marquees, trailers and gear have been checked, repaired and warranted. Final network meetings have been held with youth and children’s workers. WAY2GO Children’s Ministry Training events
for 2019 have been planned, workshop facilitators secured and brochures designed. Strategic plans for the next three years are being written and budgets carefully and prayerfully constructed. Christmas gatherings, card writing, church services, final assemblies and visitors to the office remind us of all we have to celebrate in Christ. Now it will be the start of 2019 and we look forward to another exciting year of being in God’s service.
CANTERBURY
IN THE SPOTLIGHT REGION
In February our South Island Camps Facilitator Paul Humphreys will be holding an all-day presentation of Āpōpō (a mental health awareness programme by SUNZ) with Canterbury Youth Workers Collective. He will
also be preparing School in late February – early March. You can find out more information about the Āpōpō programme at www.sunz.org.nz/apopo
JANUARY 2019 27
Take a look at these resources which would make great stocking fillers for Christmas! ORDER NOW ONLINE AT www.suresources.org.nz
NUA GUIDE AND USB
NUA is a film series that encourages questions, acknowledges doubt, and offers an engaging perspective on the Christian faith. NUA equips you with the ability to intelligently explore and understand what you believe. We give you tools to discuss your worldview with credibility and confidence, while encouraging you to wrestle with the things that just don’t seem to make sense. At the end of the day, this film series is about impact—immediate and personal, as well as the long-term, life-changing experience of working out your faith. For more information about NUA please visit www.sunz.org.nz/nua
$44.99 MOSAIC
The Mosaic book range contains Bible-based resources especially designed for small groups of children with a wide age range. It is ideal for children’s workers in small rural churches, small urban churches and new church plants - or any church with small numbers of children, few leaders, and limited space or resources!
$22.99 each 28 www.sunz.org.nz
D I A R Y O F A D I S C I P L E P E T E R A N D PA U L’ S S T O R Y - H A R D C O V E R
Sheep falling from the sky, bald heads, fiery heads and wrinkly noses, boys falling out of windows, people throwing rocks, storms and shipwrecks, prisons and fish biscuits?! How could all of this be part of just one story? Well. Dr Luke has a story to tell - a story about a man called Peter and a man called Paul. It’s a totally epic tale, a stunning super-saga, a page-turning, jaw-dropping dazzler of a yarn - and it’s all here, in one book, just waiting for you to get stuck in... Diary of a Disciple: Peter and Paul’s story is a contemporary retelling of the book of Acts. Written in a quirky, contemporary, accessible style, Diary of a Disciple offers a way into the Bible for the next generation.
$20.99 S N A P S H OT S
The Snapshots series contains Bible reading notes for 8 to 11s for a whole year. Each day children will discover more about God through a short Bible reading and a variety of other activities such as cracking codes, filling in missing letters, drawing pictures, thinking and praying. A broad range of Bibles passages have been chosen from the Old and New Testaments with extra feature pages on relevant current day topics.
$15.99 each
JANUARY 2019 29
$15.99 each
4 0 D AY S P R AY E R J O U R N A L S E R I E S
The 40 Days series of journals helps you to make space for God amidst the busyness and chaos of everyday life. With Bible text, thoughtful comment, challenging questions and space for you to think, write, draw and pray.
$19.99 each
30 www.sunz.org.nz
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The Explore Together Resource Books are practical tools for helping people to engage with the Bible. It encourages the exploration of the Bible using natural learning preferences and preferred spiritual styles. At its heart is a desire to see people hear from God and learn more of his love for them. It works with big groups, small groups, mixed-age groups, single-age groups, older people, young people, children, families, home groups, church congregations. The Resource books contain 12 ready-to-use sessions on a variety of themes, and also contains a unique access code inside the back cover, enabling purchasers to access a wealth of multimedia resources that accompany these sessions from the Explore website.
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E X P LO R E TO G E T H E R R E S O U R C E B O O K S
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Support our ministry Your support helps us to work with churches and in our ministry to children and youth in your neighbourhood and in communities all around New Zealand. I would like to donate $500 $250 $100 $50 $30 Monthly donation One off donation My cheque is enclosed
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PO BOX 760, Wellington 6140 | 0508 423 836 | info@sunz.org.nz He rama t찾u kupu ki 천ku wae | Your word is a lamp to my feet. Psalm 119:105 SUNZ is a member of the Scripture Union International Family