Ranui Open Brethren Church Au Uso Kerisiano has been meeting in the Ranui area of West Auckland for over 28 years, holding their church gatherings in a local community centre.
Earlier this year the team planned, prayed for, and prepared an outreach open day ‘free event’ to serve the community around them. With the high cost of living affecting so many people, the event was designed to take the pressure of families—with everything free: clothes, toys, household goods, toys, baby gear... There were activities for the kids and more.
The team arranged for local sponsors and went door-to-door around their local area to connect with people. As their local community became aware of what they were hoping to do, more people put their hands up to become involved—offering to help or take part in different ways.
On Saturday 28 March the team ran the event from 10am-3pm and saw over 300 people come through to connect, have fun, and enjoy the day. Ranui Pastor Scott Fruen says they’ve been encouraged to see a number of people return to be part of the church family week-to-week.
“At the event we had a booth for prayer, a station where we prayed for people’s needs. And we had quite a few that came through, and then some who came to worship on Sunday. One mother and daughter came along to the event and then kept coming to our regular services—they’ve recently returned to Malaysia, but it was a real joy to have them be part of us for the past few months.”
Ranui would love people to pray with them as they reach out to their community, Scott says they see the needs around them:
“We see the heart of Ranui, sharing the love and grace of God, there are a lot of broken souls... From the community event we have one lady attending our church who says she felt God prompting her to join us every time she’d walk past the building... We’re motivated by the great commission—to share the gospel and make disciples. There is only one way and that’s through Jesus, the drive is to get the gospel out there.”
