Anglican Missions Board of the Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia Te Poari Mihinare mo te Haahi ki Aotearoa, Niu Tireni me Pasifika; Komiti ni Veivaka – Lotutaki ni Lotu Jaji e Aotearoa, Niu Siladi kei Polonisia

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Vol.13 No.2 December ‘11

SHARINGOUR WORLD

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A MISSION WITHOUT FENCESIS THE TIME RIGHT TO BE CROSSING OUR OWN TIKANGA FENCES?

A cattle farmer from the desert outback of Australia was once asked why he

did not have any border fences to keep his cattle in. “We don’t build fences,”

he replied, “we only dig wells.”

Mission involves reaching out beyond our comfort zone, beyond the fences of human construction. The Gospel is not to be kept to ourselves within our own comfortable and predictable fences. On the contrary, the Great Commission Christ calls us to challenges us to cross the fences which divide with God’s good news. If we can embrace a Mission without fences, we may be in a better position to share the gospel of Jesus Christ more broadly in both word and action.

Envisioning a Mission without fences can encourage the Church’s disparate groups and Tikanga to come together with a common purpose. Mission without fences can become a vital energising force for unity in the midst of diversity and disagreement.

The Common Life Missions Conference (held in Waikanae in July 2011) demonstrated to me how people with diverse theological views, worship preferences, histories and cultural contexts can unite in Mission together. Somehow, the three Tikanga were able to come together with partners from across the globe, including Africa, North America, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Pacific. Some alliances and networks were made and plans hatched for greater co-operation and partnership in Mission. I believe Mission action will grow in the wake of this event, particularly in the South Pacific.

My hope is that our Church will find more ways to share in a Mission without fences, both locally and globally. Here are some suggestions for Tikanga, Dioceses, Parishes and Rohe to come together more intentionally for Mission.

• Support the new UNITE campaign aimed at sending more from our Church to serve in Mission overseas.

• Form “Cross-Tikanga” Mission teams charged with planning joint Mission events in your region. If you take the time to plan, chances are things will happen.

• Hold a Missions Dinner in your local Parish or Rohe as a fundraiser. Invite a Mission Partner, a visitor from overseas or a guest from AMB, CMS or SOMA to speak.

• Hold an annual Diocesan Mission Festival Day in your Diocese or Hui Amorangi and invite your Tikanga partners to come and participate.

• Send a “Cross-Tikanga” Missions Team to share with one of our Church Partners overseas for a short term Missions encounter or for an evangelical Mission to your local community.

• The youth are probably the best equipped for “Cross-Tikanga” Missions. The GAP ministry internship programme is worth promoting to them.

• Re-awaken the “Common-Life” conferences which were popular a few years ago. Perhaps now is the right time to reinstate them.

• Pray for more opportunities to come together for Mission.

The opportunities are endless, but the important thing is not to focus so much on our differences, but to stay focused on a Mission that unites.

Let’s all enter into Mission together!

Canon Robert KereopaExecutive Officer AMB

MISSION PERSPECTIvE

CANON ROBERT KEREOPA

JOIN ANGLICAN MISSIONS AND MISSION ACTION ONLINE

FACEBOOK AND TWITTERGet the latest news on what’s happening with Anglican Missions. Follow the link off our website or search for “Anglican Missions”.

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WEBSITE Check for updates and the electronic versions of our publications on our website www.angmissions.org.nz

2 Mission Perspective3 Unite6 Lenten Appeal Update

Pilgrimage to Israel Join AMB on a trip to Israel in June

7 Emergency Appeals Find out how you can help

8 Reflecting on the Common Life Mission Conference Stories from Anton Ponomarev and Rt Rev Mwita Akiri

11 From the Church Support Officer Rev Mike Hawke Reports

12 Stories from the Field NZCMS Mission Partners share their stories

16 AAW Overseas and Outreach Mission A Visit to Fiji and Tonga

CONTENTS

MISSION ACTION is published three times a year by ANGLICAN MISSIONS to inform and encourage the supporters of the global mission of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Designed and printed by: Kapiti Print Media Ltd

ANGLICAN MISSIONS BOARDAnglican House 32 Mulgrave St PO Box 12012 Thorndon Wellington 6144 Tel: 64 04 473 5172 Fax: 64 04 499 5553

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your people your stories your mission

DID yOU KNOW?Our Church through the NZ Church Missionary Society (NZCMS) and Anglican Missions (AMB) supports over 40 Mission Partners around the world in fields such as health, education, evangelism & Bible translation, and we’ve been doing that for many years.

In the last year we’ve seen unprecedented growth of people in our church exploring the call to Overseas Mission and there are 10 -15 who have gone or are close to deciding to go.

THE CHALLENGEThese people are from our church and they need our support to make sure they can go and serve as God has called. We need to make sure that all those who are in the Mission Field now, are preparing to go, or who are responding to this calling can be properly supported financially as they work in the Mission Field. In short we need $300,000 of new support.

SO HOW DO WE RESPOND AS A CHURCH? WE UNITE AS NEvER BEFORE!UNITE is an exciting Joint initiative between NZCMS and AMB to make sure that as God calls the Mission Partners that we as a church respond – UNITED Together! From Kaitaia to Bluff to East Cape to Cobden-Runanga.

HOW DOES UNITE WORK?It is a monthly supporter scheme ($20 a month) that all can be part of. Either by yourself, as a group of friends, a group within a Parish or as a Parish as a whole. It’s open to everyone. We need 1,250 supporters to reach our goal.

As a supporter you will choose a Mission Partner you wish to UNITE with. Your monthly donation goes towards supporting all our Mission Partners but you will UNITE with your chosen Mission Partner and discover more about their Ministry and Mission overseas and how you can support them through prayer and encouragement. Every Dollar given goes towards the overseas costs of our Mission Partners.

WHAT ABOUT THE MONEy My PARISH ALREADy GIvES TO ANGLICAN MISSIONS OR NZCMS?We are so grateful for the tremendous support we already receive from parishes which sees many wonderful ministries being carried out in Polynesia, Papua New Guinea and throughout the world along with the current level of NZCMS Mission Partners. And we need that support to continue. But UNITE is about our church responding to the specific challenge of growing mission around the world and equipping more workers from our church to work in the harvest field.

SO HOW DO I BECOME A UNITE SUPPORTER?Email unite@angmissions.org.nz or contact Tessa at Anglican Missions on 04 473 5172

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your people your stories your mission

Murray & Féy Cotter • AlbaniaPastoral Support

Maureen & Gerald HarleyCambodia

Rev Iri & Kate Mato • Tanzania Theological education

Anne & Anthony McCormickCambodia • Language learning

Marion McChesney • Tanzania Primary School Teacher

Restricted Access Country (RAC)Mission Partners

These are The Mission ParTners you can suPPorT Through uniTewww.angmissions.org.nz/unite

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Jo Rogers • TanzaniaESOL teacher

Judith • Pakistan

Jean • New ZealandAwaiting Visa

Joanna FramptonPapua New Guinea • Translation

Alistair and Vicki Hookings (Emma, Matthew, Jonathon)

Tanzania • Finance/PropertyManager and Principal

Phil & Becky Sussex (Bryn, Toby, Pippa, Molly)

Cambodia • Language Learning

PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LANDJoin the AMB Pilgrimage to Israel for 14 days from the 17th of June until the 2nd of July 2012.

We will walk from the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane as Jesus did on that first Palm Sunday, stay

in Jerusalem, celebrate communion at the Garden tomb, visit Bethlehem and Nazareth, swim

in the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. Included will be a brief visit to St. George’s Cathedral

and College.

Come expecting to see the Bible come alive. You will never read it in the same way again.

The tour will be led by Rev Mike Hawke and local guides with local knowledge.

We are pleased to report that almost HALF the seats for the Israel Pilgrimage have been taken. So NOW is the time for you and your friends and family to buy an early Christmas present to enable that special person to join in on an unforgettable pilgrimage to Israel. On the way we will stop off at the Petra valley for a breathtaking walk (or ride a camel) and then we will go to Mt Nebo where Moses saw but never entered the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:48). The view is stunning. Then we experience the frustrations of crossing the sensitive border from Jordan to Israel! Fruits of the Spirit are needed at this point (Galatians 5:22)!

Contact info@angmissions.org.nz for more information.

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LENTEN APPEALAnglican Missions is thrilled to announce we have received over $32,000 across the three projects for the Lenten Appeal this year – Land Acquisition for Landless People in Polynesia, a dinghy and outboard motor for Papua New Guinea, and support for Jerusalem and the Middle East.

If you or your parish still have money for this Appeal please forward it on to us as soon as possible so we can ensure it gets to where it is needed by the end of the year.

MISSION ON FIRE!We have just launched our end-of-year appeal – “Mission on Fire” – to raise funds to cover the new NZCMS Mission Partners who have begun serving in 2011. While UNITE is focussing on sustainably covering the costs in the future, the surge of new Mission Partners in the latter part of 2010 and 2011 requires that we need a big effort now.

Please promote this Appeal as much as you can. For more information please see our website:

www.angmissions.org.nz

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EMERGENCY APPEALS

TUVALUTuvalu falls within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Polynesia. Archbishop Winston Halapua has just returned from visiting our brothers and sisters there. Anglican Missions (AMB) has launched an appeal on behalf of the Diocese of Polynesia for the people of Tuvalu. Archbishop Winston writes:

“As Bishop of Polynesia I have just returned from a visit to Tuvalu. There I was privileged to be alongside the people in this time of crisis. I have listened to their stories of courageous struggle. The lack of water is all too evident in the strict rationing, I observed the people each morning collecting their two buckets of water per family.

The breadfruit which provides food for many is struggling for life near homes. I have observed the withering of the breadfruit and other trees – trees which would feed families are dying.

You can help by responding to an appeal for money to contribute towards supplying water and food to people in need. Your assistance is asked to be channelled through the New Zealand Anglican Missions Board. Money will be forwarded to the Church in Tuvalu – our ecumenical partner in mission. There it will provide the Church with funds to bring relief not only on the main island but to pockets of people on the other islands within the group.”

Donations can be sent to AMB. Please make cheques payable to Anglican Missions and designate for the Tuvalu Appeal, or donate online.

CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKEInternational donations raised NZD $501,778!

PAKISTANOnce again Pakistan has been hit by devastating floods. Over 5.4 million people have been affected in Sindh province, southern Punjab and north-eastern Balochistan. Already 248 people have died, and communities that had barely recovered from the devastating floods of last year have seen their homes and livelihoods destroyed a second time.

AMB has launched an appeal to assist relief efforts in this region of Pakistan. Donations can be sent to AMB. Please make cheques payable to Anglican Missions and designate for the Pakistan Appeal, or donate online.

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND UNITE As Christians we are called to live and serve in a world which is not perfect, which we understand is “fallen” and which needs healing and wholeness. Over the centuries, the Mission community has been responsible for initiating change in many areas of need – education, health, alleviation of poverty and injustice – and has often been the trailblazer for radical transformation, offering radical hope.

Through our Mission Partners we are engaging with many of the needs which are reflected in the Millennium Development Goals: to end poverty and hunger, to educate, to promote child health, and partnering with others globally to do this.

When you partner with us in the UNITE project, you are helping our Mission Partners fulfil their calling and do their part to effect change in God’s world, making a difference in Jesus’ name. Many of our partners are daily involved in education and training, health services and poverty alleviation through microenterprise, and they are doing these things because of their love for God and for His world.

Canon Robert Kereopa of AMB and Stewart Wicker of SAMS USA

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LOOKING BACK TO WINTER

Our visit was a very important time for my family – we revisit it again and again. We felt very much at home, whanau, really. It is a rare thing to visit home, visit family, and have a new universe opened at the same time. I came away with a deeper understanding, but at the same time, a deeper awe in the presence of the living Word of God; present to us, present in creation, moving towards God’s goal for us. We will remember and cherish this time always.

Bishop Mark MacDonald National Indigenous Bishop, Canada

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WHo WoULDN’T WANT To Go to New Zealand after sitting through hours of beautiful landscapes in the Lord of the Rings films and (in my case) less than an hour of seeing the All Blacks powering to rugby glory? So when an invitation came to Faith2Share to come to the CLMC as

guests of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand, it was also a great opportunity to learn about mission in the wider Pacific region and finally see this beautiful country with one’s own eyes.

I might be the wrong person to ask for deep theological reflections on the conference as I was busy looking after our own aspect of the programme, but here is what I remembered most. So, leaving the Faith2Share sessions (which were excellent per usual) aside. . . .

I liked the way that the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand reflects the mystery of the Trinity in the way it consists of three Tikanga. For most Kiwis, their experience of attending an Anglican church in New Zealand is of only one Tikanga – just like some Evangelicals only talk about Jesus (but seldom of the Father) and some Pentecostals look towards the Spirit (but have difficulties relating to the other two persons of the Godhead). So a national event like CLMC is probably a unique opportunity to see the wholeness, fullness and incredible diversity of the Anglican Church and maybe broaden our understanding of God as Three in One, community in unity. Relationships are key here – between the three Tikanga, between New Zealand Christians, between the Anglican Missions Board and New Zealand CMS – otherwise we do not give glory to God in all His fullness as Three in One. Such unity was reflected in the final communion and should also be reflected in common mission of the church so hopefully when we visit next time we’ll see more

fruits of Anglicans in New Zealand “being one in spirit and of one mind”. (Phil. 2:2)

I was impressed how strong Tikanga Maori are in their own unmistakable identity as an indigenous expression of God’s Church, and how much respect it draws from other indigenous Anglican movements. Bishop Mark MacDonald’s excellent Bible studies were a real gem, demonstrating how to interpret the Bible through the eyes of tribal elders, and Robert Kereopa’s attempts to score a try with his jokes provided another dimension to cross-cultural richness of the event.

I was really privileged to stay on after the main event finished and share in a few churches about our ministry. I was really impressed how curious people were to find out

more about world mission, about faraway places like Russia or England, and how open they were when talking about their spiritual journeys. One church presented me with a small picture of a smiling angel painted by one of their members and for me this became a lasting image of New Zealand – maybe small and distant, but colourful, warm and definitely part of God’s family and full of God’s people.

Anton PonomarevFaith2Share

Communion at CLMC

REFLECTING ON THE CLMC CONFERENCE, JULY 2011

Anton Ponomarev

The Powhiri opens CLMC on Tuesday morning

Background photo by Steve Taylor (theboywiththethorninhisside on Flickr)10

THE ANGLICAN BoARD oF MISSIoNS of the Anglican Church in New Zealand invited me to participate in the Common Life Mission Conference and lead two workshops on world mission. The conference was a golden moment for world leaders and New Zealand Christians to reflect together on world mission. Thereafter I visited churches in the Diocese of Wellington. Also I had the opportunity to visit the Bishop of Wellington and his staff at the Anglican Centre.

My memories of New Zealand are still fresh. The opportunity to share with many Christians was rewarding and challenging. A live encounter with the best of the Maori culture and spirituality was exciting. The generosity of my hosts who provided hospitality and of the Anglican Christians in the Diocese of Wellington whom I met was humbling.

The enthusiastic response by individuals to the call to support mission in Tarime was very encouraging. New Zealanders were touched when they learnt that $5 was enough to buy a bed net that protects a child from mosquito bites and malaria, and so save that child from death.

It is a long time since I saw people making spontaneous donations immediately after listening to a talk on world mission, especially in the developed world. I was moved when I saw Christians in New Zealand, congregation after

congregation, making spontaneous donations or pledges for malaria bed nets, giving what they could, and giving it with loving hearts. This looked very unusual especially in this age of global financial crisis and economic meltdown where people are very cautious about giving for God’s work, locally and overseas. A senior diocesan official who attends one of the churches where I preached undertook to organize further donations so that we could distribute more bed nets. What an initiative! New Zealand was a blessing in every way.

My heart goes to the leaders of the Church in New Zealand – the Anglican Missions Board, Church Missionary Society (NZ) and the Diocese of Wellington. They realise that world mission can only succeed if we put mission high on the agenda of our local churches and give the ordinary member of our congregations a chance to engage in mission. Bringing world leaders and people from other contexts to our local contexts can encourage those involved in mission, and kindle the interest of onlookers and skeptics.

Yet it is a two-way learning process. Delegates who attended the Common Life Mission Conference went back blessed too. I went back to Tarime feeling blessed and encouraged.

Rt Rev Mwita Akiri, PhD

MY NEW ZEALAND REFLECTIONS

Rt Rev Mwita Akiri reflects on the Common Life Mission Conference for 2011.

Rt Rev Mwita Akiri, PhD Bishop of Tarime, Tanzania

Bishop Mwita with Canon Ron Taylor

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A YEAR WITH ANGLICAN MISSIONS

IT IS FoURTEEN months since I left the 700-strong St Christophers in Christchurch to become the Church Support Officer of Anglican Missions Board. What a thrilling and exciting fourteen months it has been! I’ve travelled the length and breadth of New Zealand, speaking at 180 engagements and sleeping in over 100 beds over 150

nights. I’ve preached in cathedrals, little country churches, assembly halls, and even at a pilates class (in Taumarunui).

My main message has been that the Bible is full of overseas missions: from Abraham and Sarah leaving Ur to settle in Canaan to the letters of Paul in the New Testament, which are almost totally directed at overseas churches. To ignore overseas missions is to ignore the Bible.

I reminded everyone the Anglican Missions Board began in the early 1920s, and was aimed to resource the impetus of overseas missions within the Anglican Church. The Anglican Missions Board (AMB) acts like an umbrella as it invests itself in mission agencies such as CMS , the Anglican Church of Tanzania, Kenya, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, the latter being in an area of future development.

Bishop David Coles reminds us that the way we gather money for AMB is one of the fairest in the world. All the money collected throughout dioceses and parishes goes in the one bucket which is then distributed. Other countries are much more individualistic and haphazard.

I want to thank everyone for being so welcoming, and especially those who have provided me with a nice warm bed. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Canterbury earthquake did put a damper on things. our house was seriously damaged and we expect it to take three or four years before it is fixed up. Meanwhile we are still very happy living in it, and thankful that we still have a roof over our heads.

As Mission Action goes to print, I will be in Papua New Guinea, an area that AMB wants to invest in more in the future. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with Malcolm Pease’s tractor in Dogura and spend time with Joanna Frampton.

AMB supports the work of the Anglican Church in the Middle East, and so it will be an exciting venture to lead a pilgrimage to Israel next June ( June 17th–2nd July). There are still some spaces available. I can guarantee you an exciting time with lots of laughter, in the knowledge that once visited you will never read the Bible again in the same way. What a wonderful Christmas present this could be for a family to give to a loved one!

My programme for the first part of next year includes speaking at Dilworth and the Waikato Diocese in early February, Auckland in late February, Wellington in mid-March, Taranaki in later April/early May. Back to Auckland in later May, and then to Dunedin. I would love to come to your place. Please contact me to arrange a date.

In His service Mike Hawke, CSO AMB

mike@angmissions.org.nz

WHERE IN THE COUNTRy IS MIKE IN 2012?

Jan 29 Hornby, Christchurch

Feb 24 Auckland

Feb 26 Papatoetoe

March 4 Blockhouse Bay

March 18 Whitby

March 25 Masterton, Epiphany

April 15 Porirua

May 20 Birkdale, Auckland TBC

May 26 – 5 June Southland, Dunedin Dio

June 10 Massey, Auckland TBC

June 17 – 2 July Israel

Aug 5 Devonport, Auck TBC

Rev Mike Hawke, Church Support Officer

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STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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JO ROGERS – NAVIGATING CHANGEIN 2007 Jo RoGERS LEFT HER JoB as a teacher in New Zealand to work as a teacher at Canon Andrea Mwaka School (CAMS) in Dodoma, Tanzania. After spending time in New Zealand on home leave and service in late 2010 Jo returned to Africa to take up a new role at the Dodoma Language Institute, a language learning facility based at Msalato Theological College. Jo writes about the joys and challenges of transition and new learning.

“2010 was a year of transition for me; I turned 60 in February, I finished three years of teaching at Canon Andrea Mwaka School in Dodoma, I returned to New Zealand for home leave and service, and I completed a CELTA course in preparation for teaching English in the Foundation Programme at Msalato Theological College in 2011.

“At the beginning of 2010, as I faced the prospect of my last semester at CAMS I had many mixed feelings. Guilt, knowing I was leaving the school when the need for teachers was so evident. Sadness, as I left behind the wonderful students I taught. Peace, from knowing that Marion McChesney (NZCMS Mission Partner) was on her way to replace me in my teaching role.

“I arrived in New Zealand in July 2010 to freezing temperatures and persistent rain. I wanted to hide away, everything was so different and alien from what I had become used to, but duty called, and I began to prepare for the first of many visits to churches, home groups, schools and meetings. This was quite a daunting prospect! However I

NZCMS MISSION PARTNERS SHARE THEIR STORIES

soon found myself enjoying the stimulation of visiting new parishes and meeting many new people, all who seemed so interested and supportive. Particularly encouraging were those places that hadn’t had much missionary input previously and were challenged to become more involved.

“In November 2010 I began my CELTA Course which was to prepare me for my new work with the Msalato, and for a month I was challenged to the max learning how to teach English to foreign language learners. The course has proved to be very useful and since returning to Tanzania I have put into practice a lot of what I learned. Five of my students are already ordained pastors, but have returned to college to study in English. One of them has had no secondary education, so it is very challenging for him to learn English and study for a diploma. The others are younger men and women – most want to be ordained but a few have come just to learn English. They have been great to teach and I have not regretted my change to teaching adults one bit. They are hard-working, motivated and appreciative, and it is a big challenge for me to know how I can be most effective in my teaching. Please pray that God will guide me in all my planning and preparation.”

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By supporting these people through Unite you are investing in our stories and our mission.

www.angmissions.org.nz/unite

FÉY AND MURRAY – BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRISTMISSIoN PARTNERS FéY AND MURraY CottER returned to serve in Albania at the beginning of 2011. Their ministry involves working alongside a local pastor in Lushnje, a city of about 65,000 people. This work involves using their gifts in evangelism, discipleship and teaching. Féy shares about how the church in Lushnje is living out the task of teaching, nurturing and baptising new believers.

“The church in Lushnje has been reaching out to the local church neighbourhood for a number of years now, and last Christmas they invited all the neighbours in the street to come to a special Christmas programme and meal. As a result about a dozen women from one end of the street, mostly nominal Muslims and over the age of 50, began to come to church. Féy began leading a weekly Bible study for them. The initial focus was explaining what Christianity was all about, followed by an overview of the Bible. It is fantastic to watch more of these women engaging with the Bible and participating in the prayer time. It is clear that some have grasped what the gospel is about.

“The church has struggled to develop a strong men’s ministry as many of them were uncomfortable coming to church. Over the past eight months a conscious effort has been made to develop relationships among the men and to create an environment which encourages men who follow Christ. Food and a beer, testimonies and bible studies have seen a good bunch of men coming more regularly to meetings and to Sunday services, and in June seven men were baptised. The group has more than doubled in size and will soon need to be divided into two groups.”

Please continue to pray for these ministries in Lushnje and for Murray and Féy as they teach, disciple and nurture new believers.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER SOLOMON ISLANDSNZCMS ENCoUNTER TEAMS spend two to three weeks exploring God’s work in another country and culture. During August a team from Napier visited the Solomon Islands to partner with local church leaders in various ministries. Team leader Anna Tovey reports:

“The team arrived back safely in the early hours of Friday 1st of September after an absolutely amazing Encounter experience in Honiara. We were so blessed and inspired by all the people we met and the ministries we had the privilege of being involved in. This trip was extremely important for building a bridge between New Zealand and the Solomon Islands. I feel honoured to have led the team and we are truly grateful to God for how He watched over us throughout the trip. I am praying that this will be the beginning of a much greater link with the Anglican Church in Honiara. Thank you so much for your prayers for us while we were away – we certainly felt uplifted by them. Please continue to pray that this Encounter trip will have a lasting impact on all the lives touched.”

SUSSEX FAMILY– REAL FAITH COMPELS US TO ACTTHE SUSSEx FAMILY RELoCATED to Phnom Penh Cambodia in February 2011 and are NZCMS Mission Partners from All Saints Church in Nelson. Phil is a dental specialist and Becky is a primary school teacher, though right now they are busy learning the Khmer language. They want to share the good news of Jesus hand in hand with skills and professional knowledge. . . .

“As a dentist and teacher in Cambodia some might think we are confusing Christian mission with humanitarian aid work – that as missionaries our job is to make disciples, not fix teeth! Passages like James: 2:14-17 however, remind us that being a Christian is more than just belief – real faith compels us to act. For Becky and me (a teacher and a dentist from a developed country) Jesus’ parable of the talents is sobering because we are all accountable to God for what he has given us, including our skills and professional expertise.

“The Cambodian dental profession was effectively wiped out during the genocide of the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot regime of the late 1970s. Tooth decay remains a huge problem for many Cambodians who are unable to access care. A conversation with a Christian dental professor (one of only a handful of dentists to survive) was significant in our decision to come here. She was adamant that as a profession they are still desperate for assistance. I think that Christians from developed countries have a moral obligation to share with people in less developed countries both the good news of Jesus and our skills and expertise. Dentistry lets me share God’s love in a really practical way.

“While partners of NZCMS share a common call to overseas mission, we all have very different roles to play because we are different parts of the body of Christ, as Paul said in Romans 12: God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. I would be as hopeless at planting churches as others would be at teaching dentistry or pulling out teeth in a prison! As we are reminded when we read the book of James – all of us need to express our faith through some form of action and service, sometimes doing what no one else would otherwise be doing. This has been a recurring challenge for us in our home group over the last couple of years: “To what extent is our knowing the Gospel of Jesus, good news to those around us?”

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Robyn Hickman

In June the President, the Overseas and Outreach Convenor, and the Social Concerns Convenor

of the Association of Anglican Women visited Fiji and Tonga.

OVERSEAS & OUTREACH REPORT

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KINDERGARTENSEight kindergartens in the Diocese of Polynesia each receive $200 from AAW Mission Funds. The kindergartens visited were around the Suva area – St Johns, Wailoku, is attached to the St John’s Anglican School. The 26 children will automatically progress into the school of 270 pupils. Each morning the children are taught housekeeping duties to enable them to apply for house girl or boy situations when they leave school – a common first job. Coming from small crowded homes, kindergarten attendance gives them some important personal space each day.

Visiting St Mark’s, Newtown, we observed 21 children meeting at the back of the church. The Archbishop is encouraging the church kindergartens to move into the Anglican schools for security and support and so to receive more benefits in education and facilities.

The kindergarten at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Suva is well established, with 100 children attending the two sessions a day.

SEWING MACHINESSince 2009, sewing machines have been supplied by AAW mission funding to eleven parishes in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, and AAW ladies now purchase one of their choice locally with the funds. The AAW ladies we met at Waidradra and at Holy Trinity were busy preparing items for the markets – quilts, pillowslips and printed materials were all displayed. Several other AAW groups are quite keen to receive funding for machines, as sewing is a way of raising money for other needs. Some in Tonga would also like sewing lessons!

TONGADuring the weekend we visited the churches of St Matthias, St Barnabas, All Saints, and St Paul’s, where we were hosted by members of AAW.

At St Matthias Mission District activities tend to be holistic, with weekly bible studies for the spirit, exercise for the body, and soon cooking lessons for health.

All Saints was our next stop. Here, after the kava ceremony, we watched the tapa making. Every Saturday the AAW ladies gather to make tapa cloth that they take turns to keep. Tapa is very important in Tongan culture, as it is presented at all important occasions.

St Barnabas was next on the agenda. There are 28 families in this parish, largely funded by the local people. They were interested in AAW photos as they don’t take photos themselves.

Finally St Paul’s. Here the Youth Group was having a Retreat for the weekend and they later entertained us over dinner. From here we visited two house-bound elderly ladies suffering from diabetes (a major problem because of the local diet), cared for by their daughters.

Sunday morning saw us back at St Paul’s for their first Youth Service which had been initiated by Archbishop Winston Halapua at the last Synod when he suggested a monthly Youth Sunday. 30 youth attended.

This is the first time for many years that members of the AAW Executive have visited Tonga, and it was a most moving and enlightening sharing in the deep level of Christian commitment and service within a land of low income and health problems.

Robyn HickmanOverseas and Outreach Convenor