Praying for 230 girls

On 15 April, two hundred and thirty precious young girls were abducted from school to satisfy the evil desires and objectives of Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria.  At the time of writing it appeared that these girls had likely been sold as slaves.

Can we imagine the families’ horror and grief, their frantic efforts to find their girls, while the government has been slow to react?   If we let ourselves we can imagine  -  and we should, because it is the voices of the people that motivate leaders to action.  International social media campaigns have spread awareness and, perhaps inspired by these campaigns, many countries,  including New Zealand, have offered help, placing pressure on the Nigerian Government to search for the girls.  Nigeria’s delays however may have already led to great suffering.

This raises the question – if the girls were Christians, attending Christian schools  (see the Robin Harris’ blog in the spectator.co.uk.), why then did God allow this terrible thing to happen?  The short answer is that there is great evil in the world, but also great good and we can be reassured that “God works to turn all things for good for those who love him” Romans 8:28.   Already we can see some good as the religious war and political corruption in Nigeria are being exposed to international attention.   Maybe the issue of slavery – 27 million people, largely women and children, are enslaved in the world – will be addressed.  And maybe we will one day hear individual stories of strength, comfort, renewed faith to come out of the situation.

In the meantime what can we do?  We can lobby our Government to continue to place pressure on Nigeria to commit to finding the girls.  We can pray that the girls and their families will find their strength and comfort in God.   We can pray for, and campaign for, an end to slavery worldwide.  And we can treasure our own girls for, as the old saying goes, “there, but for the grace of God, go I". 

Larisa Hockey - Mangapapa Church

A christian since Youth Group days, Larisa Hockey is one of the Worship Leaders at Mangapapa Church, where she has attended since moving to Gisborne in 2006 with local-born husband John.  She believes in the word of God as the basis of a fullfilling life, and that Christians have an important role to play in issues affecting our community, country and beyond as they are called to be "the light of the world."

Anzac Thoughts

What is it that makes people turn out in their thousands for Anzac Dawn Parades? 

For generations who are comfortably distanced from war the commemoration service seems to stir a deep need in people.   Dawn Parade is sufficiently secular and occurs sufficiently seldom that it provides a reason and the means to ‘act out’ that felt human need which has much to do with the human faculty of memory.

This deep need is akin to the need of human beings to worship a God. It seems human beings are hard wired to acknowledge someone or something that is completely outside, or other,or more perfect than all that we know makes up the human person. Nostalgia, the yearning for a more perfect time, is a common symptom of this hard wiring. The self-help industry provides many alternative means for fulfilling this longing. Science is getting better at explaining such human frailties but in the end science fails to explain completely what Christians would say is simply a longing for perfect love.

The followers of Jesus Christ see something of this otherness, or perfection in him. In Sunday worship Christians remember Calvary and the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead to life.  Resurrection memory contains the kind of perfection for which human beings long whether they are conscious of that longing or not.Worship of God allows Christians to ‘touch’ the perfect love of God each Sunday and this ‘touching’ satisfies human nature in a deeper way than those secular, quick fix solutions.

Ask anyone who went to a Dawn Parade what they were remembering and it will not just be fallen soldiers. Absence of loved ones and the general, more impersonal theme of suffering, death and resurrection will be in the mix somewhere along with the human longing for peace which perfect love brings.

                                                                                                                                     Sue Jones

Sue is a member of the Wairoa parish of St. Peters and a past member of St. Mary's Gisborne where she continues to have connections.  Sue is a paid, published Catholic writer.  She had her first article published in 1987 and since then has had dozens more published in Catholic publications in N.Z.

Jesus and the homeless

Gisborne Herald – Christian Comment –26^th April 2014.

It has become apparent that there are growing numbers of homeless people on the streets of Gisborne. 

At this time of the year I don’t encounter them in our CBD during my early walk, but I see them asleep under the stars. One morning in March there were two snuggled down on the concrete entranceway to our church Community Centre. Two hours later I entered the church from a rear door and came across two others sound asleep huddled together on the ground using collapsed supermarket cartons as a mattress. When woken they were apologetic and gathered their meagre belongings and moved on. What better place than the borders of a church to sleep and have a sense of safety within the confines of God’s sanctuary. When the congregation began to arrive they were told of our overnight guests. There was considerable comment, some positive and some negative. I thought, ‘How would Jesus have responded ?’   

The word "poor" occurs 205 times in 197 verses in the KJV Bible. God's view on the poor is very clear about how we should treat them.   Let us look at what God's opinion of the poor is.  Jesus is an excellent example of what a poor person was in his day. In fact, it is safe to say that Jesus was a homeless person at least some of the time (see Luke 9:58). The people that Jesus associated with were homeless and poor as well. 

There are calls from “responsible people” to "clean up the streets" by having the police "sweep" the street people away and target them by issuing “Trespass Notices.” Is this the attitude that God wants us to have towards the disadvantaged ?   We are not going to alleviate poverty in our cities or raise anyone out of poverty either, by giving to beggars or making donations to organizations designed to help them. To accomplish this objective we need to address the universal causes of poverty. Until that happens maybe we should become more compassionate to everyone, including the homeless. You never know, one day a relative or friend of ours may be one of them…

Garth Hibbert

Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church

Garth is a Gisborne born retired business administrator who for the past 15 years has written short stories, anecdotes, columns and reflections about life and current affairs. He is a believer in the Christian faith and a servant of his Lord.

Choices at Easter

Gisborne Herald Weekender - Easter Column 2014

     by Stewart Patrick

Easter is a pleasant time of the year for many – a holiday, family gatherings, weddings, chocolate and tasty food – all those hopefully nourishing your body and soul (mind, will and emotions).  But Easter celebrations at its centre are around death and new life and it is a time when all should ask, “How am I doing in my spirit?  How am I actually at my centre, my heart beliefs?” 

Just a casual look at our society, shows that all is not well at both our individual and collective ‘centre’ this Easter time.  Lawmakers surely must admit they have no answers to people’s deep problems and subsequent poor choices, and so this year we have yet more chemical substances available to individuals that may briefly mask a deep centred pain, but will degrade and destroy the person. This week we learned Gisborne/Tairawhiti tops the suicide rate in NZ but we also know suicide as an option to escape deep pain, is a problem that the rich and famous struggle with equally.  Don Brash admitted this week he seriously contemplated suicide as he struggled with failed marriages, guilt from affairs and behaviours he cannot explain, that brought him to a deep trough of depression.

The message of Easter is fantastic news for these and any who will look away from their addictions, issues and messed up identity, and see Jesus.  He declared; "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life”.  (John 3:16 MSG).  Then the Apostle Paul says to those who do believe on the Son of God; “There, away from any effort of your own, discover how the God of perfect peace, who fused you skillfully into oneness – just like a master craftsman would dovetail a carpentry joint – has personally perfected and sanctified the entire harmony of your being without your help!  He has restored the detailed default settings.  You were re-booted to fully participate in the life of your design, in your spirit, soul and body in blameless innocence in the immediate presence of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  (1 Thessalonians 5:23 Mirror Bible)

Do you see it? A ‘whole life’ involves spirit, soul and body and who is responsible for making it whole?  It is God – not you!  So what must I do, that God will not do for me?  I must choose.  Not even wisdom can override choice; people must choose.  The Prodigal (reckless) Son in Jesus famous parable in Luke chapter 15 is not chased after by the Father, but he is let go, gets to rock bottom and there it says “he came to himself”.  As he reflected on his true sinful state at the centre of his being, then choosing to take a step toward the father, the father runs toward him and welcomes him home with a grand party.

There is a deception involving the belief by those who need to make a choice that they cannot do so, that it is impossible in certain areas of life to choose a different way.  Many believe they are stuck with their obsessions, addictions, anger, self-righteousness and all other deeds of their flesh life – body and soul life.  We hate to be confronted with this truth, but we are doing exactly what we want to do and chose to do.  A man may say “I’m addicted to pornography”, but you can bet he is not watching it when he is with his wife and children, so how can he be ‘addicted’ when he is choosing when and where he watches pornography?  We are not unable to choose; we simply do not want to choose the right thing.  At that point we are in unbelief in Jesus Christ’s work in us and constantly choosing against Him.  We have to decide between the words of Jesus in our spirit or the voice of our flesh – living solely from our body and soul desires.  When we choose the voice of our flesh life, it is an inescapable fact that we have chosen bondage and have chosen on the side that resists the Spirit.  We are where we are today by personal choice.

The Cross of Christ this Easter invites you to recognize this incredible mysterious truth - that your inner life was killed with Him on that cross that Good Friday and a new inner life of the resurrected Jesus Christ is waiting to be revealed in you by His Holy Spirit.  It’s your choice.  What will you do with it? 

Stewart Patrick

Leader, Mangapapa Church

Corner Atkinson Street and Ormond Road

Gisborne

Easter 2014

Christian Comment for 19th April 2014 

 

The year 2014 already carries a heavy weight of international political crises. Syria is a long standing conflict with over one million displaced refugees. The Ukraine is the latest conflict; elsewhere, conflicts in Africa, Egypt, and Thailand grow.

Some Kiwis believe that this is none of our business – and change TV channels. In New Zealand the divorce of religion and politics has been encouraged – by political leaders and by some elements in the churches. This cannot and should not be done!

 

Christians, Jews, and Moslems, have holy books, and historic insistence, not to ignore politics. In our Old Testament prophets read the signs of world events to better guide their people. To name just two: the prophet Isaiah witnessed the Assyrian Empire overrunning the Middle East; the prophet Jeremiah witnessed t he rise of Babylon – and its fall.

 

As for Jesus -- his ministry was conducted in a Roman occupied country. He was exposed to collaborative High Priests and to rebellious Zealots, and His (Jesus’) apparent threat of being the spokesman for another allegiance “The Kingdom of God”, led to His execution by the Roman governor.

Jesus was very concerned about national and international crises.

 

And what about St Paul? He tried to counter Roman persecution of the infant Church in his letters. He, too, died for trying to oppose the worst aspects of international thought – control.

The dark side of Church history is that sometimes the Church opted for alliances with the “powers that be”.

Christians have always been in the middle of power struggles. Let us not put our heads in the sand. We must confront our current crises by being the praying force behind those who seek to solve them.

In this time of Easter let us follow the Risen Christ on the road to human unity.

 

 

The Rev'd Petra Barber
Vicar of the Gisborne - Te Hapara Anglican Parish
Vicarage at:
9 Joanne Street, Lytton West,
Gisborne 4010, NZ

Be the change...

The French have a saying, ‘Tout comprendre, c’est tout pardonner.’ To understand all is to forgive all. If we truly knew what has gone on in the lives of people we meet everyday I’m sure that we would all be more gracious and forgiving to one another in this community. 

We all are aware of the social stats. on this region and how little seems to be improving and yet there is a huge amount of resources, money and services in place here to effect change, surely! I have at times said to myself “how can people not take these opportunity and improve their lives”? I am reminded of the importance of care over cure or as William Booth put it Soup, Soap and salvation. To suggest to someone who has had generations and layers of dysfunction, ‘here is everything you need be motivated and fix yourself' is unrealistic. The importance of showing love and care to those we meet everyday is advancing God’s kingdom here on earth. I wonder if the unseen gestures and acts of kindness by the many who ‘believe’ to those less fortunate would activate the changes we all hope for, how much more receptive to God’s great news of redemption would people be when they are shown grace, patience and kindness? I have heard the saying Hurt people hurt people, does that also mean that Loved people love people?

There are many opportunities to be involved in community groups outside of the church building and opportunities to extend the grace God has given to us! 

I have to use one of my wife’s favorite quotes (she’ll forgive me) from Gandhi.

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Much love, Jason Akuhata-Brown