Mission Adventures NZ

Have you ever had that mysterious feeling that something big is around the corner? Not like the feeling you get when your driving long distance at night and are drifting off into dreamsville and you see the lights of a semi truck rolling from around the curve, but a feeling like a change in your life is about to happen? That is the feeling that I have had burning in me for the last few months.

Last year during the season of Lent I went through a justice prayer calendar put on by these dudes out in the UK. Every day there was some info on an injustice and a way to get involved. I had also been going through 30 day’s of Prayer by the fine people at Photogenx. While I was going through it I had a thought that it was time for me to create my own justice prayer guide. This is when I had the feeling that something big was…

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A while ago my friends and I were serving at a church in Auckland, preparing food. As dinner time came around we ventured out of the deep, dark recesses of the kitchen to join the back of the food line. The line started in the cafe area where there were a bunch of kids running around and screaming, most likely abandoned by their parents for some refuge. (It’s funny how the only place where it’s considered normal to ditch your kids is church). One of the young women who had been helping out that day was behind me in the queue, and I kept seeing her turning around in annoyance studying the young kids. As I was doing the same, I thought nothing of it – probably some delightful children’s pastor had fed them up on a massive sugar high.

After 20 minutes I managed to grab some food (although the salad had been picked dry of olives), and as I was approaching my table I was accosted by the same young woman who I had seen “giving the evils” to the rowdy kids earlier. “Did you hear that flippin’ kids language!?” she stated. “Nah” was all I could say before hearing a minutes worth of obscenities communicated to me that had come out of a particular young girl’s mouth, and how irresponsible her parents must be. The young child was pointed out to me and although she looked familiar, I couldn’t help cracking up when I was told that this young three year old girl had told one of the other kids to “Shuddup or she would get the bash!”. “I just don’t think a girl that young should even know what the ‘F’ word is!” I was told before I moved on. As I sat down, I saw (and heard) the young girl quite articulately pronounce the ‘F’ word more than once and then saw her run to the door in excitement as her father entered the room. Again I had to laugh out loud ( lol ) but this time it was because this child’s father is actually the pastor of a local church I know.

Ends up there is a reason this child has bad language and it does have a lot to do with the parents – but not in the way you think. You see these pastors have moved from the ‘nicer’ parts of Auckland to the poorest part to serve God and love their community. They have not only decided to serve the people God has called them to, but they have moved their family to live in the neighborhood. They are now fully integrated into the community and their children go to the local preschool, so it’s no wonder they come home with some colourful expressions! I am sure this is just a small part of the sacrifice this family has had to make here. Another friend of mine once asked this young girl about her doll. As my friend was being told all about the doll she was surprised to hear that the doll’s father was in prison. In what world do young three year old girls know that fathers are in prison and the mother stays at home to look after the children? That world is not many minutes drive from where I currently live, and that world is sadly becoming more a part of the world in which we all live. But, do we want to be a part of the solution? That’s the question.

What a powerful testament to living out Gods calling! Can you imagine the flak that these parents must get at Christmas or other family holidays? What would your parents say if you came home with some new vocab after playing at the local pastors house? Somehow in a weird way I reckon Jesus probably cracks up too when he hears these things. I also reckon he has a huge smile when he looks down and sees this pastor and his family loving the community that they are in so much, that at times they may get a bad name from it.

So, ‘Should three year olds know the ‘F’ word?’… I’ll let you decide. I did however tell the young woman that the reason behind that three year olds language was that there is a deep sacrificial love for the lost… maybe more three year olds should know the ‘F’ word and this world would be a better place!

This a must see, when God comes home to New Zealand.

(Part of the genius marketing of ’100% pure’ New Zealand which has increased NZ tourism, despite the tourism worldwide trend which has declined throughout the recession.)

Man, what an awesome weekend of City Lights we just had! On the Friday night we heard Ants Watt speak on loving the broken, and on Saturday we went out into our communities and served, doing things like gardening, cleaning, handing out food parcels, and working with addicts. On Sunday we invited some of the people we had met on Saturday to come to our church for a free BBQ lunch.

So, on the Sunday morning I arrived at a lodge in Newton to see a group of people hanging around outside having a cigarette in the early morning sun. This is the type of lodge that has people come straight from prison, and also houses those who are substance dependent – despite the sign on the road saying that it provided “tourist and backpacker accommodation”! After hearing their conversation about who got the most smashed the night before, and who in the lodge had the biggest “domestic”, I was introduced to the three guys I was going to take to church. They all confessed that they hadn’t been to church since a funeral last year, but they wanted to come early to attend the service and then stay for the free feed afterward. I found more than one of them a bit intimidating, but we warmed to each other quickly.

Driving to church, and just before turning onto Newton Road, we were held up by “GUCCI”. A middle aged woman driving a Mercedes coupe with a soft top, and to top it off of course with “GUCCI” as the personalised plate. She had not moved for a whole green light so I got out and approached her to find out what was wrong. Winding down her window, I was accosted by the excess of fragrance and found out her car was broken down. I told her I had three friends who could help her out, to which she reluctantly accepted.

As I informed the guys in my car, I was surprised that they were so keen to help this lady who clearly had too much money to play with. As they all shuffled out of my car and proceeded to push “GUCCI” across the road and down onto a side street, I was reminded of Ants talking about how God has an upside-down kingdom. Here were three people with barely a cent to their names, who needed a free meal, pushing a car whose owner’s perfume probably cost more money than they had seen in a long while. The funny thing was that I seemed to have more prejudice towards this lady than what they did… I blame my mood on the perfume though, it irritated my sinuses!

Somehow there was something so beautiful in watching these three guys push that ridiculously expensive car and its owner across the street, which is why I captured it on camera. In the Bible it talks about how true religion is one that comforts the widows and the homeless and the poor. I wonder if God wants us to spend time with these people because it’s actually beneficial for us as Christians.

I enjoyed that church service so much! Surrounded by people who didn’t know the social rules of church, talking over the top of the pastor’s sermon, motioning throughout the sermon to go out back and have a cigarette, and then eating food afterward, discussing methadone, heroin and broken families. Somehow that refreshed my soul. I think it’s a step closer to how Jesus would have done things.

This year, Mission Adventures is helping run the city-based component of City Lights.

Basically, City Lights is a non denominational movement that gets young people involved in serving their communities in a practical and loving way.  In the past we have helped out with CYF’s initiatives, women’s homes, low decile schools and foster care – doing things like painting, cleaning, running community fun days, and DIY.  The event is held over the weekend of March 5th and 6th. If you are in Auckland over this weekend and are thinking about getting involved I would urge you to do so.  There are plenty of areas of need around our city and this is a safe and effective way to serve needs in a practical manner.

The Bible talks about ‘true religion’ as being one that serves the needs of the widows and the orphans – people that could do with a helping hand, and so often we as Christians are thinking, “How can I get closer to God?” Well the answer is quite clear in my opinion. These two objectives meet at the same point when Jesus says, “Whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done for me”.