Welcome to the missions page of our church website.

Mission is an important part of our lives and our church.   We live in a land of such wealth and prosperity - and it is often only when we experience other developing / 3rd world cultures - are we able to truly appreciate the immense riches that surround us - and share this wealth globally.

We have made it a personal goal to expose each of our children to short term inter-country mission before they leave our family home. We have found this experience tends to widen and deepen their appreciation for life and health, something many people - young and old -  in New Zealand tend to take for granted. Several other people in our church family have also taken up this challenge - both for themselves and their children.

Short term - inter-country mission benefits those team members who take part in it, as much - or even more than those to whom they go to minister.

On September 27th 2008 - a team of around eight people - young and not so young - will be leaving for a two week long short term mission to Fiji. Our group has a mix of people in the following careers: students, fulltime home maker, computer engineer & social services.

While there, they will be offering practical, social and spiritual services to the indigenous and underprivileged of Fiji - visiting, helping and ministering at a jail, orphanage, slum and remote villages.

We have partnered with Tranzsend  - our first choice mission provider.

Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Below - reports, photos and feedback from mission trips to Fiji - Papua New Guinea and India.

Where Can I Hide From Your Spirit?

(Part two now available for download - including 45 high definition photos)

Psalm 139:7 - 12

 PNG Pilgrimage 2007

 Written while returning home to my birth country of PNG after 40 years absence since my parents were missionaries with New Tribes Mission

Part one of two…

Let’s open God’s holy Word at the epistle of James chapter 1, reading verse 2 to 4.  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.   Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.        (See also 1^st Peter 4:12)

I'm not sure what I expected to learn from my ‘pilgrimage’ back to my birth country of Papua New Guinea.   I do believe God began ‘working on me’ long before my trip even began – in ways I were not even aware of at the time.    God’s like that – isn’t He :-)

The Bible says that God ‘tests’ our faith’, and that He ‘Refines our lives through afflictions and trials’.  (Mal 3:3)  Too often, when I face the  trials and tribulations of life, instead of giving God the glory for the way He works in my life, ...I seem to fall into this ‘default’ setting of giving the credit and the glory to Satan, and say that ‘The devil is attacking me!’ It just seems to be part of the ‘Christian baggage’ that was taught to me as a new believer, and I find it really hard to correct this false mentality, and leave it behind!  At times I risk ‘rebuking’ the very things God is bringing into my life to mould and refine my character, to ‘steer’ me in the right direction of loving and serving Him!

It reminds me of a cartoon where a demon is sitting on the sidewalk, sulking. The caption goes something like this; ‘I’m being blamed for things I haven’t even done!!!’  (Just a note - this 'false' doctrine that is sweeping the church today, is known as Dualism. I will bring some very timely teaching on this topic very soon!)

It’s this inbred and false understanding, that as soon as the hard times come, opposition or difficulties, ...that somehow these things are no longer part of God’s perfect will and plan for my life, and because I don’t like these things, ...instead of seeing the hand of God within them, I am tempted to blame them on the devil!!  Do you know what I’m talking about??     It really is an immature and infantile view of the sovereignty of God, and signals a need to mature in my faith and understanding of who God really is.  Not what I think He should be, this Great Cosmic Santa Claus, but a loving God who often has to allow these things into my life, in order to catch my attention!

So, the week before I left for Papua New Guinea, I had to appear before a judge on a traffic charge due to an honest mistake I made several months ago. I was however, let off, and discharged without conviction.

Then, I was seriously annoyed by a phone stalker, that at his worst phoned me over 30 times in one day, demanding I obey his commands or face serious misfortune. Fortunately the police became involved, and this stalker’s phone records and account miraculously disappeared from the face of the earth! Praise God. Then the day before I left, the church buildings were tagged with satanic signs and symbols, …as well as my Pocket PC crashing entirely and needing reformatting – and then I fell over, dropping my cell phone and ruining it as well!   On top of all that, just three days before leaving, I went to my doctor and was diagnosed with Bronchitis and an acute Sinus infection.  Through this, God was insisting that my strength and courage was in Him, and in Him alone!

So on Wednesday 30^th May, I found myself on a plane bound for Brisbane Australia, the first leg of my mission trip back to my birth country of Papua New Guinea.

The amazing thing, is that my health issues cleared up as soon as I entered the plane, and honestly didn’t affect me again the entire trip! PTL!!!

But what I didn't want to do, was visit PNG as a tourist. I had a clear mandate, a mission from God for this trip. Being a 'tourist' can be a deceitful thing in any country, as it blinds us from seeing the culture from the truth of God's reality and Word.

My mission was two-fold.

1.   To return to my 'roots' of my birth country,  to process and experience as an adult what I lived as a child.

2.   To 'strengthen', encourage and support the indigenous work of the Lord and the missionaries at Sobega, in practical and spiritual ways - to the best of the ability that the Lord has given me.

It impacted me on several levels, emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual.

This message is an attempt to 'draw the threads together' and see what sort of a tapestry the Lord has created.

PNG is a beautiful country.

 New Tribes Mission Base - 'Sobega'                  

God's creation shouts His praise there, as much as any country though-out the world, including good old NZ. (Romans 1:20)  However, what was originally a beautiful creation of God, has now been marred by sin.  When anyone goes to the mission field, whether that is in PNG, Africa, Australia or NZ – we must understand that the people to whom we are going – no matter how ‘primitive’ or advanced -  are NOT a ‘clean slate’.

They have the imprint of sin written on their hearts and lives –   just as each one of us does as well!   (Romans 3:23)  So, PNG has also experienced the full impact of the fall of humanity.

Primarily, this report is my impression of that country, through the filter of God's word, and from a pastoral perspective. My prayer is that God would use it to encourage and motivate you to love and serve Him more with the few short years He allows us to live on this earth – on the mission field in New Zealand!  This is my attempt at seeing PNG through the loving eyes of God who died to give eternal life to all the world.

I can say though, that many missionaries send their heartfelt gratitude for the money, Bibles, teaching material, DVDs, music Cd’s, stationary and other gifts received.  The first lesson I learnt about PNG, actually came as I sat on an Air Niugini plane at the Brisbane airport. The flight was supposed to leave Brisbane - Australia at 10:30am, and arrive in Pt Moresby - New Guinea around 1pm, so I could catch my connecting flight from Moresby to Goroka around 2:30pm the same day.

Well, 1pm came, but I was still waiting at the Brisbane airport.   The Air Niugini plane was there too, but it was broken down!  Finally I was allowed to board the plane at 3:30pm, only to have the captain bring this announcement:

'Dear passengers, thank-you for your patience. The repair was only a minor one, a small computer part that takes only 10 minutes to install. Unfortunately the part had to be flown in from Sydney on another Air Niugini plane, and missed the first flight. It was ready for the next flight, but due to wrong paperwork, missed that flight too. It did get clearance for the next flight, but unfortunately that plane broke down too. The good news is that the part made the next flight!

The bad news is that it hasn't arrived yet!'

 All this, while we are sitting on the tarmac, waiting to leave after a long, hot and tiring day.  So, my first lesson was this:   Papua New Guinea may be only two and a half hours 'behind' New Zealand on the international time line, but it is decades behind us when it comes to punctuality, reliability and safety!

In fact, I don't think these three words even exist in their vocabulary - especially after their separation and sovereignty from Australia in 1975!

Pretty much all of New Guinea is in disrepair, broken or worn out, including roads, buildings, social structure and government.  Because of this delay, and once we finally took off from Brisbane and arrived at our destination, I had to spend a night in a hotel at Port Moresby, courtesy of Air Niugini.

My first reaction, upon arriving at the Pt Moresby airport, (apart from even the airport sign being broken!) was 'Someone forgot to turn the heaters off!'   It was sooooo hot - around 40 degrees!

My second reaction was of the Customs declaration and sign in the PNG airport; 'Restricted and dangerous weapons are banned from PNG, as are illicit drugs and pornography!'  I thought, 'Wow, what a pure and morally clean country!'   Even the women dress so modestly.   And it really does appear morally and sexually pure and clean.

Until you scratch the surface.    It is actually a very sexually abusive and promiscuous nation.   Possibly around 99.9% of national men see women as possessions, and in fact 'buy' their wives for around K10,000,  and then have multiple affairs and partners.

I was fortunate enough to visit a village wedding while in Yagaira (my childhood tribe) and took this photo of the ‘bride price’ (Dowry), a list of gifts and amounts given to the bridal family. This is also a type of ‘banking’ system, and the gifts would be expected to be paid back to the grooms family at a later date or as the need arose. In fact when I stayed at a village tribe – I found the very people whom I played with as a young child, the two nationals who were our ‘house boys’ of 40 years ago.

I was reunited with Namugi, and spent a night in his bamboo hut with him and his family.  Now THAT was an experience I will never forget!!!  I then discovered his Mari (wife) had to sleep in the hauscook (kitchen shed).

Namugi - our 'house boy' in 1967                                                           Namugi today (2007)

The eldest son Koi  said to me, 'We are kind to her and let her sleep with a fire to keep herself warm. Our father got a bargain when he bought her, because she cooks well and keeps the place clean!'

So, male chauvinism, misogamy (Treating women as unequal to men) and sexual sin is rampant in PNG.  Treating women as lower and ‘below’ men is the cultural norm.  According to Gal 3:28, all people are now equal in the eyes of God.

And in His church – men and woman are equal!   So I found myself asking the question, ‘How do we teach these people that their views of woman are cultural and not how God intends it to be today in the 21^st century!’   It’s really hard to get people to understand the difference – not just in PNG, but in NZ as well!

If you don’t believe me, then why does the contemporary church struggle with the concept of woman elders.   And your response will determine how well you – like the nationals in PNG, - understood my last statement, and why it is really hard for them to break free from this misconception, because it resides in our hearts and churches as well.

But what I also discovered – is that with the introduction of the internet in the cities of PNG, that pornography is a now becoming a huge and growing problem in PNG.    But it is all hidden under this cloak of decency and godliness.   At least in NZ we don't try to pretend

Or do we.

And isn't that sad.

From this lesson I learnt that no matter what country you visit or live in, and no matter how things look, that the heart of man is wicked and evil above all else. We are all sinners in need of grace.

Waiting at the main PNG airport after arriving, literally the last person there, I was standing outside in the dark waiting for a shuttle bus to take me to the motel.   There I was, the only white person for miles, flanked by at least two security guards who kept saying to me, 'You should be okay waiting here, we will stay with you!'   And I kept thinking, 'Well, if any Rascals (Local gang members) come and mug me, are the security guards going to protect me, or join in the looting!'

Driving to the hotel, my national driver unlocked the passengers door for me, and then promptly locked it behind me,  …and made sure he didn't stop the vehicle at all - until safely behind the double perimeter security fence and protection of the guards at the motel.

It honestly reminded me of the Biblical story about Sodom and Gomorrah.

Violence, crime and theft are major problems in New Guinea, especially at Moresby.    Some nationals told me it is the crime capital of the world.    There are security fences and guards everywhere.

 House windows have bars over them, and barbed wire on the fences and gates.

Papua New Guineans do not understand boundaries – where one person's property or ownership starts, and their own begins.    Fences or boundaries - private property and possessions do not appear to be part of their natural heritage, and I think they struggle to understand and accept this 'white man' concept.     In fact, days later, while sleeping in the house my father built on the mission field 40 years ago, I noticed they never turned off the outside hose tap.    It frustrated me, until someone pointed out to me that the tap is just like the local stream from which it draws its water, and you don’t ‘turn off’ a stream or stop its flow, neither should you do the same with the hose connected to it! 

Such is the mentality of some of the indigenous within PNG as they adapt to Western ‘aid’ and materialism.

Well, after another 90 minute flight the next day, I arrived at the Goroka airstrip.    It's not really an airport, just a long fenced runway with two prefabs and a strong gate between them. People crowd everywhere, just looking, and maybe waiting for an opportunity.     I kept asking, 'What are they doing? Where are they going?'     The constant reply was, 'They have nothing else to do, and nowhere to go - so they just gather together.'    To me, they looked like a ship without a rudder, without direction, meaning or purpose in their lives.     Sheep without a spiritual shepherd.

My first reaction and thought was, 'Idle hands are the devil's workshop.'

It results in neglect, and manifests greed and desires to 'get rich quick', exploiting others and a constant desire to 'get' or take advantage of any opportunity that may present itself. 

                           Goroka Air Strip

And here’s the amazing thing about the people of PNG.    Compared to NZ, they live well below our poverty line, but their lust and love for materialism is just as strong, if not stronger than the average person living in NZ.   Because lack of money or possessions actually drives a person to want these things more.    There is a constant lust for these things in PNG, a need to get them, to have what others (Westerners) have, for jealousy and envy.

The ancient not quite understand and fusing with the modern.

It reminded me of the passage in 1st John.  Do not love the world, or the things of the world, for all that is in the world, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh, the ambition to get what you want and think you need, these things do not come from the father, but from this evil world, and this world is passing away, and all these things with it, but whoever does the will of God, they will live forever.

The sudden realization that these words were not just written for us in good old New Zealand, but for the indigenous of PNG, the remote natives in jungle tribes

and those dripping in wealth and luxury in modern society.     No matter what our   culture, time zone or civilization – lust and greed is at the heart of  all mankind!!!

Then I compared PNG, with its 'slowness' and compared it to NZ and how busy we are. How we might have jobs, meaning, direction and purpose in life, but we still have the same base 'drives' and desires as the PNG nationals do. In reality, our material, financial and job security has not removed these human and fleshy desires, it has increased them - in an 'acceptable' kind of a way.   We seem to live life in NZ at 100mph – we push ourselves right to the edge.  We are running and don’t know how to stop!

Main highway Auckland NZ                    Main (and only) highway in Goroka/ PNG

So, I settle in at Sobega, the NTM base, only 20 minutes from Goroka central.  

The missionaries and leadership at NTM are doing a wonderful job  in Papua New Guinea, amidst some of the most severe testings, trials and sacrifices possible.  One of the hardest sacrifices is knowing their children, once they reach the age of 18, although having been born and raised in PNG  …are required by law to leave the country and live in a different foreign country that have vastly different values, customs and standards – away from the security of a strong Christian community and family

 After I had settled into Sobega for a couple of days, I went with Jared (Son of the NTM leaders) back to the city center, Goroka, just 10 minutes away.

The Emery family - some of the nicest people I've ever met!

We had a load of fun, possibly the most with this ‘old man’ who was trying to sell us his ‘tribal’ drum and spares.

Offering them to us for K100, we said that was too much, and then he tried to give us his life story and how the drums can ‘summon’ the spirits.

Despite his insistence, we left after a while and started walking home. After about 5 minutes, we heard this ‘thong, thong, thong’ getting faster and faster with the footsteps of the old man chasing us down the street to sell us his drum!  Another national yelled at the old man (In pigeon), telling him he was ‘A stupid old man, and should leave us alone!’  Upon hearing this, the old man got really angry with this guy,  and started chasing this other man down the street – forgetting all about us!  Then after he realized where his anger had taken him, we again heard this ‘thong – thong – thong’ getting quicker and louder as the old man caught sight of us again.  He still wanted too much for the drum, and so I asked to take his photo. He refused, unless we bought something from him!   We saw him again another day (when I took the photo), and knew he had seen us, because he started ‘beating his drum’ and coming after us again!  Fortunately it was a really hot day and he lay down on the footpath and went to sleep.  Unfortunately (According to the old man) some rascals came along and stole his drum while he was asleep!

This is another man from whom I bought artifacts. I asked to take his photo, with him holding the items – before I would buy them. He thought I wanted him to put them on, so he adorned himself with the jewelry and items. This actually really upset me.    To me, this photo is both pathetic and sad – possibly the most enlightening photo of my time in PNG.     It reminds me that they will do almost anything for a 'buck', even sell their dignity.

Then I thought. So do we in NZ.

Maybe we earn more than the average PNGian does, at around K10 per day - if they even have a job.  But we sacrifice far more than just our dignity.

We sacrifice our family, our friendships, and our service to God.

Let’s be honest, most of us don’t have even a handful of people whom we could call close friends, and we struggle to stay in the same job, house or church even longer than a decade!

Sometimes we even get so busy with the things that consume our lives, - the things God provides for us in the first place - that we don't even come to church or develop our relationship with God or other believers!

So, as I surveyed the landscape of PNG, the cultural, political, emotional and spiritual landscape that cannot be seen with the naked eye, I could not help think about home.

PNG was a 'wake-up' call for me.

I though about all that these PNGian people strive for.

Money, possessions, technology, comfort and security.

And you’d better believe it – they absolutely strive for these things and lust after them!    All the ‘stuff’ we have in absolute abundance – in fact, we ‘drip’ with it!    And then I thought, 'Are we really any better off than they are?’       ‘Are we really any happier?’

You see, happiness and contentedness does not come from material wealth or security, it comes from the Lord – and it often comes after He calls us to surrender all these things for His kingdom!

Here they are, chasing after these things because they think it will make them happier and more contented in life.

And here we are with all the very things they are desiring, and are we any happier or contented than they are!

I dare to say that we are not!

And if only they could understand this fact.

And if only we could understand it as well.

What they are searching and striving for, just as we are in NZ, is elusive. It is like chasing rainbows.   And you know you suffer from materialism when the contents of  your suitcase you take on a mission trip – or bring home with you -  is greater than the entire worldly possessions of those to whom you have gone to minister.   I made a simple 'loop' calculation while in PNG.  An equation that cycles or spirals if we don't stop it and surrender it to the Lordship of Christ.

Now forgive me for my cynicism – I wrote this while in PNG, away from the influence of the ‘god’ of NZ, money and materialism.

The more money we earn

= the more our employment/job owns our soul

= the more things we buy to justify this trade-off

= the more time we devote to these things to justify the sacrifice given to purchasing them (time, energy and soul)

= the more we become addicted to wanting things

= the more money we need to feed the cycle

= the more money we earn....

It is like the saying, 'No matter how much we nurse a grudge, it will never get better!  So it is with the lust for money and possessions. It gets stronger the more we feed it.  So, this photo is a stark reminder of the foolishness of chasing after wealth.

Then the next night  I went to a national believer's hut - a recent convert, to hear his testimony. ‘Pita Moses’ sat there, in a bamboo hut – with a dirt floor, walls lined with cardboard and ‘Bob Marley’ posters, his only worldly possessions a 12 volt radio hooked up to a car battery, and a broken toy car he found at a tip (plus his beloved Bible).

He shared of his conversion, of his love for Jesus and the salvation he found. He couldn’t stop quoting Scripture and smiling from ear to ear!!!  Then he looked me in the eye, and talked to me about the character of Christians in PNG, how 'Many wear Christianity as a cloak around their shoulders.' As we talked together, in a bamboo thatch hut with only a candle as our light, I believed Pita Moses had a prophetic message for the church of NZ, for you and for me, to encourage us in our walk with the Lord.

I want to share this story and message with you next week, as we have run out of time today.

Part two is now available for download, but only if you have broadband!

Download: Where can I flee from your presence - part 2

Article below - Fiji Mission Trip 2006

'Go into all the world, starting at your home town, nation and then the wider world - preach the gospel, baptize new believers and make disciples - and behold, I will be with you always - even to the very ends of the earth!' Jesus

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million people who won't survive the week, dieing instead from treatable diseases.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation - if you are attending a church without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, then you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world today!

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head

and a place to sleep - you are richer than 75% of this world's population!

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change in a dish someplace, you are amongst the top 8% of the world's most wealthy people alive today!

If you have found contentedness in  Christ, and can share your love, money, wealth and time with those who have less than you - then you are blessed, because you have found the heart of God!

Mission Trip to Fiji - October 2007  (Commentary to follow soon)