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After the Nelson fire

Hope Community Church (HCC) Lead Pastor Daryl Bay reflects on the way God has been at work in their church and in their community over the past two months—since a major bushfire in the Nelson-Tasman region swept over 2343 hectares to become one of the country's biggest blazes.  “After the Nelson fire, the firefighters were concerned about ‘hotspots’—unseen embers buried deep in the ground which were at risk of being fanned into flames and then a blaze. When you think ...

This year's YOUTH SUMMIT: Longevity

If you’ve ever been through the process of replacing a staff member who has resigned, you’ll know it can be a difficult and costly process. Not only are you faced with having to rework a job description, advertise for applicants, interview them and then make a decision, but you’re then having to prop up a ministry and then help a new person transition into a role without the ministry suffering.  If you’re employing a youth pastor or if you have a valued key leader who is doing an ef...

FIRST Training

One of the most satisfying experiences for any elder or pastor is to watch a young person in their church come to faith, begin a journey towards leadership, and then to go on to begin making a real impact for the Kingdom. As leaders, we have a responsibility to not only hope and pray it happens – we need to be willing to be proactive and do all we can to make it happen.   Every church needs to be looking at ways to help young people discover the exciting truth that God wants to ...

PRAY FOR CHRISTCHURCH

Please be praying for the people and families affected by the tragic events unfolding in Christchurch this afternoon, Friday 15 March. Please pray for the medical staff at the hospital as they care for the wounded, and for the police as they protect the public and seek the perpetrators. We are horrified by the violence and hatred of this event, and utterly condemn the evil motivating it. We stand in grief with our Muslim neighbours at this time.   ...

Leadership Links

Leadership is a journey, and one in which we want to continue growing our skills in. When a leader’s growth plateaus - or worse, stagnates - the people they are leading are the ones who suffer. Paul urged the church at Colosse to work with all their hearts at whatever was in front of them. If you’re a leader - that includes your leadership. There’s no shortage of fantastic books and online resources to help up-skill your leadership, but we wanted to share a few that we’ve found helpful i...

Manawatū District Rally Camp 2019

It’s Sunday morning at 9 am. 130 Rally children and 40 leaders are at Forest Lakes on the Kāpiti Coast. The children and leaders are from rallies in Levin, Feilding, Marton, Crossroads (Palmerston North), Kingston Street (Palmerston North) and Church on Vogel (Palmerston North). The kids are laughing, singing, and competing with each other. There’s a fantastic vibe in the room. Amazing puppets, fantastic multi-media, and fun games set the scene as children’s evangelist Ray Cooper&nbs...

Three things to help engage young adults

By Coaching Coordinator Jeremy Suisted In 1964, Bob Dylan crooned that “the times they are a-changing.” In a world of nuclear missiles, television, jet-travel and a growing consumer market, Dylan recognised that the world he was part of was wildly different to the environment his grandparents were accustomed to. 45 years later and we would think that Dylan’s sentiment was a little too conservative. The times don’t seem to just be changing—they seem to be constantly in flux, with ne...

PREPARE

Here'a downloadable resource available to email or print for a young person you know who might be preparing to leave home for uni or training in the near future. ...

CHANGE THE UNIVERSITY, CHANGE THE WORLD

Dunedin is one of New Zealand’s most ‘infamous’ student cities… burning couches, wild parties, creative thinkers, and people studying medicine… So, what does day-to-day life look like for those serving in Christian ministry to students at Otago? Rongopai Editor Sophia Sinclair caught up with Jandre Niehaus, who—along with wife Micaela—is a Team Leader for Student Life; and with Simon and Rosie Sim, who work with Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (TSCF). Both ...

Waitangi Day Reflections 2019

As part of their CCCNZ commitments PastorLink Enabler Kerry Rickard and Ambassador Mark Grace had the privilege of attending Waitangi Day 2019. "What a joy! The green shoots of new growth and new life in the treaty relationship evident 5 years ago at Waitangi are budding across Waitangi Day 2019 in so many ways.  At the heart of that is the work of the Spirit of God working through the gospel and the people of God.  Some of the buds include: 140 Christians from a group who have volunte...

Youth leadership Development Day: Canterbury

A big thank you to Rutland Street Church for hosting a combined CCCNZ churches Youth Leadership Development Day. Youth Leaders and Children's Leaders from four churches across Canterbury came together for a day of training and teaching. Interested in hosting something similar in your region? We'd love to chat! Give Youth Enabler Murray Brown a call: 027 841 5321...

Youth Leaders: How ready are you?

Check out CCCNZ Youth Enabler Murray Brown's helpful checklist for Youth Leaders/Pastors to prepare for the year ahead... are you ready for 2019? Download the printable PDF here....

An Unexpected Opportunity

In July 2017 Reuben and Evelyn Smith began to pray and seek the Lord’s guidance over a two-year plan for their family’s future. Motivated by their love for the gospel and spurred on by a heart for Paraguay (where Evelyn was born and grew up) they committed to regularly praying and connecting with local leaders there, with the plan for Reuben (who works as a high school teacher) to make several trips over to bless and encourage the church. During this time God worked unexpectedly to bring Sou...

How God used an earthquake to bring two churches together

Immediately after the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, Rutland Street elder Lincoln Rout attended a gathering of pastors and church leaders. During the meeting Baptist leader Murray Robertson encouraged leaders in the west of Christchurch to connect with leaders on the east—where quake damage was the greatest, and the communities hit the hardest. “As I looked across the room it occurred to me that I knew of assemblies out east, and their leaders typically wouldn’t have been p...

Connection Point

CCCNZ Communications Manager Sophia Sinclair caught up with Matt Cameron and Alistair Pike from Church Street Chapel in Timaru to learn more about how a local hostel for international students became a connection point for multi-cultural ministry. Tell me a bit about the history of the hostel and how it all runs: how many students, and how long has there been a connection with the church? The hostel was bought in about 1995 by a member of the local fellowship, Mr David Bruce,  who then sol...

A tribute to former CCCNZ Board Member Ian Elliott

It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the death of Ian Elliott, aged 72, who passed away suddenly and peacefully on Tuesday 8 January 2019 at Waikato Hospital after a short illness.  Ian was a vibrant and active member of our trust board, having only recently stepped down, he remained a strong supporter of CCCNZ.  We valued his wise counsel and insight, and he will be greatly missed by the CCCNZ wider community. Ian was a man of faith in Jesus Christ and this was the fo...

God qualifies the called

In 2016 Mihiwai and Renata Te Aho decided to approach the assembly and elders about running a youth night at Tauwhare Gospel Chapel. Mihiwai and I have lived at Tauwhare Marae for 32 years. We have four sons and six grandchildren. Mihiwai and I fellowship at the Tauwhare Gospel Chapel which is located at Tauwhare Marae. Both Mihiwai and I believe God has called us to do his work to help our youth get to know about Jesus, for it was when we were young that we too heard about Jesus at youth night...

How cultivating a heart of compassion sparked a multicultural church community

‘What did Christ value?’ This was the key question the people of City Bible Church (CBC) in Hamilton asked when they began developing their church’s values and vision. Their desire was for these values to become identifying markers of their church community. One of the six values they landed on was this: We value compassion for the needy. Senior Pastor Campbell Forlong says that at the time this was one area where they needed to develop: “We felt like out of all the values we had ident...

An international harvest in our own backyard

CCCNZ Communications Manager Sophia Sinclair talks with Dr Merv Coates about the unprecedented opportunities for multicultural ministry in Auckland because of globalisation. Demographers tell us that Auckland is one of the world’s most multicultural cities. I gather you’re excited about the implications of this for local mission? For sure! I saw a great headline from a New Zealand-based mission magazine: The people of the world: Coming to a street near you. It’s obviously true. The inter...

How do we 'love one another' when we're different?

Have you ever looked around church on a Sunday morning and noticed a room full of people who look exactly like you? Same age and stage of life. Same level of wealth and privilege. Same political views. Same skin colour. Same culture. Maybe it’s human nature, maybe it’s circumstance, or maybe it’s a mark of our society. Whatever the reason, our church families often represent silos of New Zealand culture—separate bodies that are self-contained and content. As New Zealand culture...

Where is God calling your church in 2019?

Haggai was not a book of the Bible that got much air-time in my teenage years. I knew the stories of the Pentateuch, delighted in the daring narratives of Joshua, Judges and Ruth, and was well-formed by a healthy dose of the gospels through Sunday School. But in the middle of the Bible lurked an array of awkwardly-named books that never drew me in. Full of poetry and confusing names—they weren’t as appealing as hearing about the early Church in Acts, or David’s exploits in Samuel’s b...

The 'inconvenient' Jesus

Right from the very start, Jesus was inconvenient! Consider Joseph, how inconvenient to be told by your girlfriend that she is going to have a baby, and imagine what people are going to say about you? It’s not even yours! What about Mary? Imagine telling mum and dad that you’re pregnant, even though you are not married, and having to tell your boyfriend that you are pregnant—and the baby is not his! What will people say about you?    As if that’s not uncomfortable enough, i...

Your church needs you!

Rongopai Editor Sophia Sinclair caught up with Nina and Josh Paget, youth group coordinators at Clark Road Chapel in Whangarei. Nina and Josh are voluntary workers who have been leading the group for 10 years and bring much-needed insight into how our churches can encourage and support unpaid volunteers.     How long have you guys been at Clark Road and what keeps you busy during the week? Nina has family at Clark Road Chapel (CRC) and has been coming along ever since her youth gr...

Why young Christians need theology

Article by Chris NorthcottLincoln Road Bible Chapel Youth Pastor During my late teens, when I was a new and young Christian, I was part of a weekly Bible study for young adults. The older woman who ran it had a verse that was an unofficial mission statement for us. It was a text that we returned to time and time again. Years later, I find myself sharing the same text with the young people under my watch. That verse is Daniel 11:32b: "The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action...

Four surprising facts about 'O Holy Night'

What do Mariah Carey, the cast of Glee and South Park’s Eric Cartman have in common? They’ve all recorded the Christmas classic O Holy Night. This Christian favourite is a powerful hymn that reduces many to tears and conveys both the majestic glory and redemptive aspects of the Christmas story. Well-known for its beautifully arranged score and spine-tingling high notes, O Holy Night can be heard everywhere from shopping malls to cathedrals during December. Here are four surprising facts abou...