JUNE 2020
MEETING GOD INSIDE
LEAP TO FLAME
FLASH NEWS
BIBLE ENGAGEMENT IN A DIGITAL WORLD
EDITORIAL Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. He rama tāu kupu ki ōku waewae, he marama ki tōku ara. Psalm 119:105 Psalm 119:105 is the verse Scripture Union has centred its ministries around, both here in Aotearoa New Zealand and right across the world. Its significance sits behind all we do with the children and young people we meet through our camps and schools and leadership development programmes. If you look carefully you will even see it in our logo. This iconic verse has been running through my head all day today. It’s a beautiful image and as I have thought about it, I have reflected on the absolute necessity of God’s light in our lives and particularly right now. I am very aware, as you will be too, of the effects of Covid-19 here in New Zealand and around the world. Many people are sick and others are struggling with the economic fallout. Please
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hold this verse from Psalm 119 in your hearts and pray for us all and for the children and young people affected. Pray that His word really will be a lamp for our feet and a light for our paths during this time. This month’s Adventure explores what it looks like when children and young people are excited about the Bible and engage with it well — something that is less common than we would like these days. You’ll notice that time and time again God meets with them and their lives are redefined in ways that are deep and change them forever. It is exciting to see God’s light shining in and through our lives. Nga mihi nui,
Hilary Hague
National Director Scripture Union New Zealand
CONTENTS
FEATURES
4
MEETING GOD
HILARY HAGUE
8
FLASH NEWS
NIGEL WINDER
12 A GRANDFATHER'S REFLECTION ON BIBLE READING KEN EDGECOMBE
14 LEAP TO FLAME ANNETTE OSBORNE
20 BIBLE ENGAGEMENT IN A DIGITAL WORLD
ANDREW RAMSBOTTOM
22 GOING DEEPER ON PONUI ISLAND NEVILLE BARTLEY
CHILDREN'S MINISTRY
15 WAY2GO MAGAZINE
INTERVIEWS
10 Q&A
RESPONSES FROM LEADERS
24 25 26
LIGHT FOR THE PATH
INTRODUCING GEORGE BATES OUT & ABOUT
RESOURCES
28 SU RESOURCES FOR LIFE PRODUCED BY JAMUEL ENRIQUEZ EDITED BY JANICE HUNT DESIGNED BY WINDSORCREATIVE WAY2GO MAGAZINE DESIGNED BY WINDSORCREATIVE
HILARY HAGUE | National Director, SUNZ
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aith was new to sixteen-year-old Nathaniel and he was excited by what God was doing in his life, so he decided to paint something over the graffiti he had left on the local dairy. This time with permission! He wanted everyone to see what God had been saying to him.
about the changes that had happened in his life, and even harder to tell them he wanted to live differently. But Nathaniel had been reading his Bible and he was in the process of discovering that as he did, his life was changing.
He painted: Speak the truth even if your voice shakes.
Like Nathaniel, our lives can be changed by reading the Bible. The question is: What helps us read the Bible so that this can happen for us?
Speaking out truth had been a challenge to Nathaniel. He had found it hard to tell his friends
It helps if we can recognise that reading the Bible is about far more than just reading
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the words and far more than just reading a book. That’s why in SUNZ we don’t talk so much about ‘reading’ the Bible as ‘engaging’ with it. Bible engagement is much fuller than simply reading. It’s about meeting God in the Bible’s pages. Eugene Peterson says ‘When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves.’ Bible engagement is an exciting journey so let’s be open to the life-changing possibilities God sets before us as we step forward into all God has for us.* Let’s be saturated in prayer
Prayer breathes life into the words we read as the Holy Spirit opens our hearts to God and helps us to hear Him speaking to us. Bible engagement cannot be separated from prayer and we benefit from the richness of meditating on God’s word as well as reading it. Let’s deepen our relationship
Bible engagement is about relationship. All our Bible engagement is grounded in our relatedness to God as His children, and our relationships with others around us. We do not want to read the Bible simply to collect information about God. Rather, we want to meet with him. We want to come to know him more and more as someone who cares about us individually and personally. We want to enjoy the relationship of love and forgiveness and restoration — because this is the purpose for which God has revealed Himself in the Bible. Let’s draw on our communities
As we sit and learn and discuss and pray together, our understanding is enriched by listening to the insights of others. And of course, God gives special gifts and skills to some people so that they can interpret the
Bible in ways that stretch and strengthen us. The whole church can benefit from these people — whether they are alive and present with us now, or lived in previous generations. Let’s respect the integrity of the Bible
The Bible is the story which gives meaning to all of life, and by which all of life must be lived. That means engaging with the Bible is also about looking out for the big picture of God’s dealings with the people he loves from creation to new creation. It means noticing how individual verses fit within this large context so that we understand what they really mean. And of course, the Bible contains different literary forms (genres) and so seeing how God communicates differently from one form to another is important too. Let’s open it for life
Meeting God through His word will always have an impact on our lives as we immerse ourselves in what God has to say to us and grow in our capacity to worship and be shaped by him. He speaks to us as we live out our love for Him in holy lives and enlarge our sense of participation in His mission. Back in the day, Humphrey Babbage, a previous National Director here in SUNZ, summed it all up when he said we want to open the Bible in life-changing ways. Maybe, like Nathaniel, we are starting out with God, or maybe we are well on our journey. Whichever is the case for us, the important thing is that meeting God is our desire and our prayer as we engage with the Bible. This is what we want to establish in our own lives and this is what we want to pass on to future generations of children and young people.
* These pointers come from Scripture Union’s Hermeneutical Principles. Hermeneutics is a fancy word for working out what the Bible says and what it means. The way we engage with the Bible is very important for us here in SUNZ so if you would like a copy of our hermeneutical principles let us know.
JUNE 2020 5
HOW ARE YOU GOING WITH BIBLE ENGAGEMENT? Ask yourself these questions: ¼ How am I engaging with the Bible prayerfully? ¼ How am I engaging with the Bible relationally? ¼ How am I drawing upon the community of faith to help me? ¼ How am I valuing the integrity of the Bible as I read? ¼ How am I allowing the Bible to impact my life and the way I live?
OPEN THE BIBLE PRAYERFULLY RELATIONALLY IN COMMUNITY WITH INTEGRITY OF SCRIPTURE AS A WHOLE • AS IT IS WRITTEN AS IT IS ENCOUNTERED • LOOKING FOR CHRIST
FOR LIFE
BIBLE ENGAGEMENT THE WAY
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sunz ENGAGE: - kupu ki oku - waewae He rama tau
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Available in Maori As well as English, all the daily readings and scriptures are available in Te Reo Maori.
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Daily Audio Bible Reading New audio, readings and questions are posted in the app each day. Use this to support your personal Bible study or even use this together as a group or family.
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Daily Bible Reading App
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Download audio readings You can download all the bible readings in the app so you can listen to them offline if you're on the go.
The whole Bible in an app While you may have a Bible app on your device already, you can access the Bible without the need to leave your audio bible reading for the day.
Available for FREE on all mobile platforms
For more information please visit www.sunz.org.nz/engage
FLASH NEWS BY NIGEL WINDER | Children and Families Team Leader, SUNZ
Fake News While reconstruction work was being carried out on the Christchurch Cathedral, an ancient book was unearthed from amongst the rubble. The local MP who was on-site at the time took this artefact to Wellington for the next cabinet meeting presenting it to the Prime Minister. The PM asked for it to be read in her presence. The words apparently cut her to the core realising they painfully described the reality of a nation that had forgotten its Christian 8 www.sunz.org.nz
roots and rejected God. The book described the moral decay and its consequences when other things are worshipped in place of the one true God. The PM was so convicted by the message of this book that she tore her suit and sought immediate and radical law change. She made it a requirement for this book to be read in public and for the core Christian practices of worship, prayer and ceremonial remembrances to be reestablished in the land.
Old News A story like my scenario previously would certainly make news headlines today, but it is actually very old news in the sense that something very similar happened about 2,650 years ago in the nation of Judah as recorded in 2 Kings chapters 22 and 23. Unlike his father and grandfather, young King Josiah of Judah had a heart that desired to obey God. When the Book of the Law was rediscovered during repair work on the temple, he was ready to respond in obedience. The Word of God had a profoundly powerful effect on him, beginning with humble and sincere repentance for himself and the nation. He then had this unwavering conviction to obey what the scriptures said. Josiah went on a mission to remove the idols and shrines that were competing with the rightful place of the one true God. This led to a significant spiritual revival in the nation and the delaying of God’s punishment on them for rejecting his rule and sovereignty. New News While I’d love this story to be true for our nation in this generation, I am not without hope because I continue to see the Word of God have this same effect on individuals’ lives today. I see this in some of the amazing stories that are fed back from our Scripture Union camps, where young people have been convicted of the reality of their broken lives, but also overcome by the love and hope they find in meeting Jesus. The Word of God is continuing to transform lives as the power of God. It is fulfilling its own lofty claims of being living and active.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 As we know from the Parable of the Sower, the effect or fruit that comes from hearing God’s Word is dependent on the condition of the human heart where it lands. This story gives us some interesting questions to consider… ¼ How do I view the Bible and its potential to powerfully change lives? ¼ When was the last time reading the Bible resulted in radical change in my life? ¼ Do I read the Scriptures with an attitude of humility and repentance and a genuine desire to put it in practice? ¼ Is my relationship with God the most important thing in my life and how is this lived out every day? ¼ What should I be praying for my country and its leaders? Good News If I prepare my heart right, this living artefact—the Bible—will continue to do its powerful transforming work in me as I grow in my knowledge of God. God changes the heart of a nation one person at a time, so He might as well start with me. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3 JUNE 2020 9
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Q& A
WE ASKED CAMP LEADERS HOW READING THE BIBLE HAS IMPACTED THEIR LIVES.
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I’ve found that having a guided page of scriptures to read per day incredibly helpful! Its added structure to my mornings and has become a part of my routine." —Millie Law
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The Bible has provided the resource for nurturing my life with Christ; it’s provided the framework for locating the story of my life within the big story of God’s dealings with us; it’s provided the means for understanding the nature of God-of God as loving Father, God in Christ, God by the Holy Spirit. It has also proven challenging, both in terms of challenging me to grow, and in terms of having to make sense of its many puzzles. Through it God has spoken to me/engaged with me. Exploring the scriptures as a camper happened a long time ago, but it taught me to engage the insights of others, to experience the value of group study, and to have my discipleship formed in very focussed ways. SUNZ Bible Reading Guides provided my earliest resources for regular Bible engagement and kept me at it in my early Bible reading years. In more recent years I’ve not used them but continue to use the Bible almost daily in my devotional life." —Selwyn Yeoman
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At Ponui Senior this year, one of our takeaways was putting time and intention into spiritual disciplines. I hadn’t used a Bible study guide since I was a kid, but found having it sitting on my breakfast table a good prompt to help set the habit. Each morning, while drinking my coffee, I go through the daily devotion. The studies are short, though provoking and having something physical helps me engage more (I find that when I’ve used apps I get distracted and lose focus easily) and it’s a great way to start the day." —Jo Wieland
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In my family growing up, we knew that a great and loving God had made our world, that Jesus who was also God had come to live among us, and had given us his Spirit – and that we could not only read about this in the Bible, but as we let its words sink into us, we would get to know him and share his life. We did lots of Bible memorizing (usually in the King James Version) – individual verses and whole passages – and this is something that has changed my life from what it might have been. I can think back to many times when God’s word has come immediately to mind to speak comfort, or challenge, or whatever else I most needed. Here’s some quick examples: ¼ 16, at high school, feeling that I’d badly let God down with something I’d failed to do - “as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Revelation 3:19) ¼ 19, alone in the house and receiving the crushing news that something terrible had happened to my little brother – “and the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7) ¼ 30 or 40-ish, on the phone with a Christian friend pouring out her feelings of hopeless inadequacy and uselessness, and I cut in with “what God hath cleansed call not thou common” (Acts 10:15) i.e. because of Jesus you belong to God so don’t underestimate what He's doing in you. And I could go on to the words of comfort when sleep is disturbed by anxious thoughts; and the clear directions in the midst of confusion and clutter; and the wonderful assurance of God’s wrap-around love. I praise God for all he means to me – and the wonderful book he has given to us. — Sylvia Coulter, Supporter Relations Facilitator, SUNZ
JUNE 2020 11
A GRANDFATHER'S REFLECTION
ON BIBLE READING KEN EDGECOMBE
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y granddaughter, Bethany, is two and a half. Last Wednesday I read her, at her request, The Owl and the Pussycat, and at the end I asked her, ‘Shall we read it again?’ I know how her lot regards repetition. But she was firm. “No,’ she said. ‘I want the Bible book.’ So we got it. Candle Bible for Toddlers, which has been in her family since her big brother was two. It has a mashed up look about it now: her fingers on its pages are not always a gentle thing. I wondered where we’d start, but she knows it covers a lot of ground, and she was ready. ‘I want baby Jesus, and Mary. And Joseph.’ Helpful background here is that, over Christmas, her enthusiasm for our nativity set reached addiction levels. We read about baby Jesus, and Mary. And Joseph. I thought I’d make sure this was a co-operative thing. At the right place I asked her, ‘What were the gifts the wise men brought?’ ‘Gold.’ Very firm. I was about to help her with the hard ones when she beat me to the draw: ‘Frankincense. Myrrh.’ I’m not saying she could spell them. But I am saying she recalled them. And who knows when all that planted seed will result in fruit, or exactly what that fruit will look like? It so happened that my Encounter with God reading that morning had included Hebrews 2:3, ‘How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?’ and I was suddenly transported 65 years back to Kaponga Gospel Hall, where my mother took me as a child and on whose wall was a poster with that verse on it, in the King James English above that had defeated my childish efforts to make total clarity of it. But it was still there, sort of gentle on my mind. Seeds planted early. At my present church on Sunday night we had read from Ecclesiastes 3, about the right time for everything and, tellingly, verse 11: ‘God has made everything beautiful in its time.’ In its time. Someone present told us of her
son, schooled early in Christian faith but an adult rejector, who in recent months seems to be mellowing. God’s time to reap from the early seeds? She hopes so. The following day the same verse had been useful to me in conversation with a Jehovah’s Witness who I think was wanting me to agree with him that the world belonged to the devil, just look around to see why, and I had said ‘Times and seasons, and God in control.’ I do not have a programme to roll out for grandparents to ensure their grandchildren grow up to use the Bible. But I can say that an early and natural exposure to it, in a form they can enjoy, is lovely when the child is on your knee and it gives a chance for the reaping when God’s time is right. Next week young Bethany might be back on The Owl and the Pussycat. But baby Jesus and Mary, and Joseph, are well and truly lodged. Her time’s in God’s hands.
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WHO KNOWS WHEN ALL THAT PLANTED SEED WILL RESULT IN FRUIT, OR EXACTLY WHAT THAT FRUIT WILL LOOK LIKE? JUNE 2020 13
LEAP T FLAME... BY ANNETTE OSBORNE | Children and Families Consultant, SUNZ
‘We read under the eye of God until the heart is touched and leaps to flame.’ —Dom Columba Marmion
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hese words provide a beautiful picture of what reading the Bible can be. We read in the presence of God. We read until God’s words burst to life, like a bonfire on a cold winter’s night. What an exciting approach to the Bible! Lectio Divina is an ancient way of reading the Bible that involves reading the words slowly and thoughtfully, working through four steps: lectio (reading), meditatio (meditation), oratio (prayer) and contemplatio (contemplation). Here’s what happened when we used this approach on one of our children’s camps. It was early morning as the campers gathered in the hall, dressed in PJ’s and with their Bibles, and pens and paper.
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READ: I began by reading slowly from Philippians 1, pausing, and then reading it again. I asked the campers to listen carefully and pay attention to any words that jumped out.
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REFLECT: Next I asked them to reflect on what they had just heard. What words, pictures, or ideas were in their mind? Were there words that seemed special or important? How did these words make them feel? ‘Do you think God might be saying something to you?’ I gave them time to write or draw these things on their piece of paper.
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RESPOND: I invited the campers to sit in silence for a few moments. During this
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WHEN WE READ SLOWLY AND TAKE TIME TO LISTEN, FIRES START BREAKING OUT ALL OVER THE PLACE.
these
silence they could talk with God. I encouraged them to ask God a question, to thank God for something or simply to talk with God about how this passage made them feel. They could also choose to sit and think, or to write their response down in their journal.
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REST: The last step was to invite God to talk with us. I gave them the chance to sit in silence and listen. They might hear God speak, or they might have a picture in their mind, a line from a song, or a feeling. I assured them that if nothing happened, that was okay too. Just rest and listen.
After the campers had returned to their cabins to prepare for the day, a young leader came to tell me the experience of one camper: During our Bible reading, words from Philippians 1 had jumped off the page and burst into flame! God spoke clearly, touching this young girl’s heart in a powerful way. She was convinced to the core of her being that God loves her. How amazing is that! When we read slowly and take time to listen, fires start breaking out all over the place. This article originally appeared on the SUNZ blog at www.childrenandfamiliesnz.blogspot.com .
ISSUE
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I hadn’t heard from my brother in months. It was good to get his text, but unusual. As far as I was aware, he hadn’t shown any interest in church, let alone the Bible, in years! So when we met for coffee the next day, I asked why he wanted it. “Well�, he said, “I’ve been going to morning prayers at the cathedral, and I’d like to read the Bible. This is the version I remember from our childhood, the one I remember Mum and Dad quoting�. Wow, I was blown away! God is in it for the long haul with us all. But it also caused me to reflect on the importance of our choice of which Bible to read and share with our children. And which version is best at different ages and stages? In this edition of the WAY2GO magazine we will look at some options when choosing a Bible for our children, and some ideas for helping us engage with God’s written word together.
___ Annette Osborne SUNZ Children and Families Consultant
Bible
CHOOSING A
Some Bible versions are more suitable for children than others. We live in an age where we’re spoilt for choice, almost to the point of not knowing where to start. Illustrated Bibles that vividly and faithfully retell Bible stories are great for our under 5’s. By about eight years of age (depending on the child, of course) we should expect our children, with help, to graduate to a ‘full’ Bible. Here are some of our favourite ‘in-betweens’:
Diary of a Disciple “I really like it because it’s funny, it doesn’t have all these verses in them. It reads kind of like a real story. I like the pictures.” —THEO, AGED 9
Action
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The Jesus Sto
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Bible This is a beau tiful overview of the whole B Each story po ible. ints to Jesus, each whisper as the centrepi s H is name ece — God’s lo ve for us. A m for any child o ust read r adult who de sires to unders how the storie tand s of the Bible ar e miraculously w together to te oven ll the greatest story of all. —CHILDREN AND FAMILIE S TEAM LEADER , R
NIGEL WINDE
READING AS A FAMILY Yep, we get it! It’s hard to find time as a family to read the Bible together and equally hard to find something that works for you. You could try using some of the ‘Five S’s’ —non-book ways to help children learn and remember the Bible :
Song Make up a song about God : read a part of the Bible then make up a simple song that says what you have learnt about God. Use a tune you know or simply a rhythm. You could repeat a simple pattern like “God is …”
Story
Enter into the story: help children to identify with characters in your Bible reading by pausing at points and asking how the characters might have felt about what was happening. Pause at ‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ moments.
Slogan
Sum-up: make a shout or slogan to sum up the main teaching point. Repeat and reuse! Reread the story and insert the shout or slogan wherever it seems to fit.
Symbol (image)
Paint or draw: read a Bible story a few times and ask the children to draw or paint whatever particularly strikes them. Look at everyone’s work appreciatively and see what has made the biggest impression on the group.
Scheme (Action)
Serious play: children learn through play, so they don’t have to sit still as you read! Allow them to play and respond to the story in any way they like — playing with toys, finger puppets, lego, playmobil… ‘Play’ with Bible stories helps children to internalise the stories and work out their meaning.
You could use more than one of these ideas at a time (if you have time of course!) so that children with different learning styles can grasp the learning at the heart of the passage. Above all, allow your children to respond to the
Bible in their own way, without rushing to satisfy your adult agenda. Let the Holy Spirit work. AND REMEMBER, IF OUR CHILDREN SEE US READING OUR BIBLES OURSELVES THAT IN ITSELF WILL SPEAK VOLUMES.
Special Picks $2.99 Diary of a Disciple-Mini Consisting of the first three chapters of the full book. This booklet makes a great give away to children in both school and church.
$8.99 Diary of a Disciple, Luke’s Story, Activity Book - AWARD WINNER!! An exciting, interactive 64-page book with puzzles, colouring, mazes, crosswords and more — all amongst excerpts of Luke's story.
Check out our NEW RESOURCES WEBSITE
www.sunzbreakthrough.org.nz
Scripture Union wants to work with your church to create opportunities for children and young people to discover and follow Jesus, grow as leaders, and influence the world. Contact us and let us know how we can help you.
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PO Box 760, Wellington 6140 way2go@sunz.org.nz 0508 423 836 sunz.org.nz
www.sunz.org.nz/guardians-of-ancora
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oday we have more access to information than we have ever had in the history of the world, and that access is instant. And at the same time, we have fewer people engaging with the Bible, its narrative and the God we get to know through it. We can be a slave to technology like social media and the pull of instant connection. However, technology also offers opportunities. Here are some digital ways to enhance engagement with Scripture for all ages.
FOR KIDS
BIBLE ENGAGEMENT IN A DIGITAL
WORLD ANDREW RAMSBOTTOM |
Children and Families Consultant, SUNZ
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Guardians of Ancora is an award-winning, Bible exploration game created by Scripture Union for the 8–11-year-old age group. It is 100% free, no ads, and downloadable for both phones and tablets (Android, Apple and Amazon). Alongside the game are videos to watch, quizzes to do, Bible stories to listen to and a creative hub for players to respond. The game can be played offline too. A parental control system is included and multiple logins are allowed. It is a brilliant resource for children to be able to interact with the Bible in a safe, fun and exciting way, and can be used in families as well as church children’s ministry.
FOR YOUTH Engage: Youth Daily Bible App is a home-grown (SUNZ) daily Bible reading app for youth. It is designed to be easy to use and to encourage a daily habit of Bible engagement. The devotion comes in text form as well
as an audio file that can be listened to in English and Te Reo Maori. Engage can also be used offline and is 100% free with no ads. Imagine every young person and their leaders in a youth group using this app every day and teenagers leaving home with a habit of reading God’s Word daily…
FOR ADULTS, FAMILIES AND HOMEGROUPS E100 is another resource produced by Scripture Union that is available as an app. It covers 100 key passages of Scripture through the Old and New Testaments and helps get an overview of the Bible. You can choose your timeframe from 100 days to a year, when you do it in the day and who you do it with. The whole (CEV) Bible is included. Each day has a prayer starter, the Bible passage to be read, a commentary on the passage, application where notes can be made, and a closing prayer. It’s 100% free and contains no ads. Imagine an individual new to the faith or a family together or a church homegroup spending 100 days exploring key passages together.
FOR THE COMMUTE Pray as you go app is a great way to start your day, whether at home, at the office or on public transport. It is based on the Lectio Divina model and is only available as an audio file. Once you have downloaded the relevant devotions for the current week, it can be used offline and is also 100% free and no ads. No Bible is required as the passage is read aloud twice. This is a wonderful tool for experiencing a more contemplative way of engaging with Scripture.
Tips
To avoid distractions, turn off all notifications—or even better, put your phone in flight mode—before you start using a Bible app or give it to your child. I would strongly recommend that you don’t give a child a device just to keep them busy. Rather, give it to them intentionally for them to experience something positive. Let’s be masters, not slaves, of technology and use it as a great tool for meeting with and hearing from God regularly!
BIBLES The Bible is available in so many forms today and with a phone in our pocket we never need be without a Bible at hand! Digital versions are wonderful for exploring and comparing different versions without needing an entire bookshelf. Here are just a few options: Bible Gateway is best known as a searchable online Bible with an app. You can select parallel translations from all the major translations including the Māori Bible (without macrons) for free and there are upgrade options for additional resources. Three of the most popular digital Bibles are Olive Tree (my favourite), Logos, and Laridian. All the apps and desktop versions are free to download with usually one or two free versions. However, if you want to make the most of this software then you need to purchase the version you want as well as commentaries, maps, and other resources. These are all available offline anytime. JUNE 2020 21
DEE
GOING ON PONUI ISLAND
NEVILLE BARTLEY | Youth Team Leader, SUNZ
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onui Island has been the location of many successful camps, including one called Ponui Extreme which has been held during spring school holidays. However, 2019 brought a change. A new camp Going Deeper was birthed out of the foundations of the old Ponui Extreme.
Why did we change something sucessful you may be asking? Well, Ponui Extreme was originally intended for senior high school students looking to go deeper in their faith walk with God. However, that aim was not reflected by the camp name: Ponui Extreme seemed to reflect an extreme adventure on Ponui and not necessarily a camp aimed at deepening people’s faith walk. The last thing we want to do is entice people to camp with false expectations. As we talked about how to get across that the camp is designed to help senior high school students explore deeper with God and delve deeper into scripture, it seemed Going Deeper conveyed exactly what this camp is all about. Why go deeper? All of our high school camps include great Bible engagement, but we have realised that
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some campers really want an opportunity to spend even more in-depth time exploring their faith. And so we planned a camp with extra opportunities to connect with scripture and engage with its message to us. If students came together with this common aim, we hoped that they would gel together and feel comfortable to go deeper and open up more about faith issues. So what was the outcome? What happened? An amazing group of senior high school students came to 2019 Going Deeper ready to go deeper in everything. They went hard-out with the activities. We couldn’t hold them back when it came time to do a service project on the farm — in fact, they even went back and did more on the farm during their free time. When it was time to engage with scripture and faith issues, we were not dissapointed either. They were very open, asked lots of questions and continued many discussions beyond the designated engagement times. Spending time with these students really made us realise that we have some amazing followers of Christ who, on a daily basis, are out there representing Christ in our schools. I think the things I liked most
EPER about the group were its diversity and the campers’ ability to push back and challenge concepts and ideas, so that they could go away with a robust faith at the end of it all. We asked campers what they had learnt, here is what a few had to say. ‘How to listen to God. Which I loved learning about as I haven’t really been taught that.’ ‘How to pray and my possible gifts. Now that I know my possible gifts I am more confident in using them.’ ‘Because of the studies on camp I have decided to get baptised. I cannot imagine living my life without God, I have been motivated to start a new life with Him…’ ‘How necessary it is to listen to God rather than just talk, this has helped me to get closer to Him.’ These young men and women came to camp wanting to ‘Go Deeper’ with God, and that’s truly what they did.
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THE CAMP IS DESIGNED TO HELP SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS EXPLORE DEEPER WITH GOD AND DELVE DEEPER INTO SCRIPTURE
The next Going Deeper camp planned for the end of term 3 and we hope there will be more camps like this in the future. Keep an eye out for them!
JUNE 2020 23
Light
for the path BY GEORGE BATES
A
ll Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. —2 Timothy 3:16-17 This letter of Paul was first and foremost to Timothy, a young man dear to his heart. Paul prayed for and longed to see Timothy, and throughout this letter, earnestly reminds Timothy to remember Christ, to be strengthened by His grace, and to be a patient, pure, gentle minister of His gospel. Knowing this could be his last communication with Timothy, Paul sends heartfelt encouragement, reminding Timothy of the importance of scripture. However, the letter also clearly expresses God’s deep desire for all of us to continue in the good news we have learned and firmly believed, growing in wisdom through faith in Christ Jesus. In this light, what do these verses mean for us? God-breathed The word we translate ‘God-breathed’ is literally a blend of the Greek words for ‘God’ and ‘breath’, from which we get the word ‘spirit’. Therefore, we could paraphrase: ‘All Scripture comes from God’s Spirit, breathing out of the pages into our own spirits.’ In other words, the primary role of the Bible is not merely to transfer knowledge into our heads. God brought each word in the Bible about by his Spirit dwelling in people; and through Scripture, God breathes into the depths of our inmost being. God inspired authors to
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write all the books from Genesis to Revelation, and he will breathe on us as we read them. Making us whole What does God’s breathed-out-Scripture do? This verse tells us it will teach (instruct on proper living), rebuke (convict of sinful living), correct (realign the path of living) and train (give strength for righteous living). Paul’s list is not exhaustive. We could add comfort, embolden, inspire, calm and give joy… God’s word makes us ‘complete, equipped for every good work’1. Christ was the complete person, the example we are given to imitate. As we engage with the Bible, the Holy Spirit transforms us to be made whole like Him, so that we can love like Him, rejoice like Him, serve like Him and do all good things through Him. Giving us life Christ came so that we may ‘have life abundantly’2. That is God’s desire for us. Psalm 119, a striking prayer about God’s Word, repeats the same plea to God nine times: ‘Give me life!’ Engaging with Scripture — reading, listening, studying, memorising, discussing, preaching, understanding it — gives us life. It brings us to God Himself, the fountain from whom all life flows. It serves as our spiritual food. Jesus has shown us the way. Now it’s over to us to follow Him, living ‘not on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’3. 2 Timothy 3:17 (ESV) John 10:10 (3) Matthew 4:4 (1) (2)
Introducing George Bates
We asked George, our writer for ‘Light for the Path’ to introduce himself to you. Here’s what he had to say: Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Kapukataumahaka te maunga tata ki tōku ngākau, ko Ōwheo te awa e rere ana ki te Tai o Ōtakau, ko John Wickliffe te waka me ko Bates te hapū. Ko Nick rātou ko Rachel, ko Kezia, ko Heidi, ko Harry ōku whānaunga. Ko George ahau. Ki te Ariki Nui, kia whakakororia, ā, ki a tātou katoa, kia pangoro o te Wairua Tapu. Kia ora. Hi everyone, I’m George and I’m super stoked to have the opportunity to write the Light for the Path in this magazine! I’ve had some awesome input into my walk with Christ from Scripture Union so it is a blessing to give back. My involvement with SUNZ has primarily been in attendance to Exodus Prime, a high-school-age leadership camp in January each year. In the three years that I have attended EP, the teaching, relationships, encouragement and positive experiences I’ve gained have had serious input into the way I understand God, myself and the world around me. Neville and Kerran Bartley and the awesome leaders they recruit for camp inspire me, and much of my growth as Christ’s person has come from rubbing shoulders with these supportive, wise mentors. I live down in Dunedin and am involved at Leith Valley Presbyterian Church each Sunday. I’m in Year 13 (that’s 7th form) at King’s High School, a public boy’s school of about 1000. I’m passionate about running, I have enjoyed Maths, Science and English in the past few years, but in 2020 I’m mostly loving Spanish and Te Reo Māori. Greater than academia, though, my main focus this year is leadership, with the role of Head Boy at my school. I see this as a great opportunity to bear witness to the goodness of our God by leading from the strength that He provides. I hope to be seen primarily as one who walks in the way of Jesus.
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I HOPE TO BE SEEN PRIMARILY AS ONE WHO WALKS IN THE WAY OF JESUS.
May my words about Scripture shed some light on the path of life God has set before us, and strengthen you as you trust in the Holy Spirit each day. Kia Kaha, Kia Toa, Kia Manawanui.
JUNE 2020 25
LATEST UPDATE Out and About
We’ve been encouraged and excited to find new and genuine ways to express this call while we have been experiencing the effects of Covid-19 here in New Zealand. We have discovered so many opportunities and seen God at work in what we are doing. Here are just a few of the highlights: • We have developed a new website to provide targeted and quality resources to assist churches work with children and young people and their families as they learn a new way of being. You can find it at sunzbreakthrough.org.nz . Please check it out and recommend it to anyone that may find it helpful.
T
his year has been a bit like this picture for us here at Scripture Union NZ. We started the year with one set of plans but like many other people, we have had to turn around and come up with a completely different set of plans. Not everything has changed though. Our mission is still the same. It’s to help children and young people discover Jesus and become life-long disciples who serve the world around them. This is what God has called us to and, although this is a time of change, our call remains the same.
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• A daily Bible reflection is being uploaded on Instagram by our Camps Facilitators Natalie Duchesne and Paul Humphreys, and we now have over 440 young people following. • A Bible engagement series for children and families during COVID-19 has been written by Annette Osborne, our Children’s Consultant. It has been very well received by a range of denominations here in New Zealand who have passed it on to their families and it has been distributed to many other countries through SU International. You can even get it in French and Spanish now. • New downloads for the Engage Bible Reading App have increased and regular use has doubled.
ROS A TRIBUTE TO
• Daily Bread and Encounter with God, our daily Bible reading guides, are being read by more than 1800 people this month and people have told us they have been a real source of encouragement over this time. One flat of young adults who are using Daily Bread to read the Bible and pray together, rang me and asked me to pray with them recently. • We emailed many of the people who support us and pray for us to tell them some of these stories and we received many wonderful responses as people wrote back to us to say they were praying for us. As you read this issue of the Adventure Magazine, we pray you will be encouraged and find new insight into God’s word. We ask for your prayers, too, for our children and young people and their families across Aotearoa New Zealand. Pray that they will use this time to engage with the Bible and that as they do, their relationship with God will grow and deepen into a lifelong faith. HIL ARY HAGUE
National Director Scripture Union New Zealand
CHAMBERLIN
Many friends of SUNZ gathered at Duders Beach on 15 February to honour the life and work of a treasured member of the Scripture Union family, Ros Chamberlin, who tragically died on Ponui Island on Waitangi Day. For over 30 years, Ros welcomed thousands of campers and visitors to Ponui. She was a wonderful host, genuinely interested in people and generous with her time. For camp directors, she was an encouraging presence and calm voice in tricky situations.
Her care ran deep, not only for people but for animals and the land. Ros furthered conservation for Ponui, both in working with Massey University in kiwi and conservation research and in re-vegetating the island, using plants cultivated in her own nursery. Ponui is more than a place – it is a family, and Ros’ death leaves an immense gap. To David, Louise, Megan and Michelle we extend our deepest love at your great loss. We hope that we can continue to follow the example Ros set, of caring deeply and consistently for those around us, whanau and whenua alike.
JUNE 2020 27
ENGAGE: CONNECTING YOU WITH GOD’S WORD
Engage is a series of daily Bible reading notes for teenagers. Through Engage’s pages plunge into God’s awesome word: discovering who God is and what he’s like; seeing what God’s done for us through Jesus; and exploring practical ways of living for Him. The Bible is packed with amazing stories and lifechanging teaching. It’s time to dive into the Bible and see God change our lives.
$10 EACH
DISCOVER: BIBLE NOTES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Discover Bible notes have been helping young people understand and apply the Bible for over a decade. Now, we're turning these popular devotions into a collection of 12 books that covers the major Bible books, events and characters. Discover encourages a daily routine of Bible study and prayer, which will help young people set a pattern for the rest of their lives.
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$10 EACH
ORDER NOW ONLINE AT
www.suresources.org.nz
DAILY BREAD & ENCOUNTER WITH GOD DAILY BIBLE READING GUIDES These are quarterly Bible reading guides (they cover three months’ worth of bible reading) that will challenge, encourage, surprise and inspire you. These guides are designed to lead you to a deeper understanding about what God is saying to you and His world today. The aim of these books is to attract
readers who have used bible reading guides before, but also readers who are in trying bible reading notes for the first time.
$1599
$4999
EACH FOR A FOR A FULL YEAR SINGLE QUARTER SUBSCRIPTION
XTB: BIBLE DISCOVERY FOR CHILDREN
XTB (eXplore The Bible) is a range of Bible reading notes designed especially for 7-10 year olds. XTB encourages children to understand, apply and pray through the Bible in an accessible and thoughtprovoking way.
$10
JUNE 2020 29
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Scripture Union NZ re created to support faith formation
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Scripture Union NZ resources
created to support faith formation during Covid-19
We are so excited to share something we ha support you in this time. We have been hard ways to support and help everyone in our ne We are soIn excited to share something we have created to this brand time. response we have created support you in this time. We have been hard at work finding called 'Breakthrough'. This is aduring place ways to support and help everyone in our network this where w time. In response we have created this brand new website and resources to help you and your faith for called 'Breakthrough'. This is a place where we create tools and resources to help you and your faith formation needs specifically during COVID-19. specifically during COVID-19.
Please visit www.sunz.org.nz/breakthrough Please visit www.sunz.org.nz/breakthrough
| #breakthrough
| #breakthrough
Cut off your donation form here and return.
support our ministry
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Did you know? Around 80% of SUNZ’s overall funding, and 100% of our ministry staff’s team support, comes from donations from individuals, trusts, churches and other organisations–from people like you! We are very grateful for your support. I would like to donate $500 $250
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Please post to Scripture Union in New Zealand, PO Box 760, Wellington 6140 or alternatively you can donate to us on our website at www.sunz.org.nz/donate. If by God’s grace the ministry of your choice becomes fully funded, SUNZ may use any surplus to support the area where funds are most needed.
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PO BOX 760, Wellington 6140 | 0508 423 836 | info@sunz.org.nz He rama ta-u kupu ki o-ku waewae | Your word is a lamp to my feet. Psalm 119:105 SUNZ is a member of the Scripture Union International Family
