Gisborne church dedicated their church building and opened their new hall last Sabbath. It was a special day as friends and family from Australia and around New Zealand joined Pr Allan Brown and the Gisborne members to celebrate God’s greatness. Special music was provided by Pr Dyason Kuresa and the Pakuranga church choir. Pr Jerry Matthews (NZPacific Union President) presented the dedication message. Gisborne Mayor, Mr Meng Foon, opened the service with words of appreciation and a testimony of his positive association with Adventists over the years. Well done Gisborne!
Tui Ridge Park held an open day last Sunday for contractors who had worked on the recent developments there. They also invited the neighbours for the afternoon tour, presentation and tea. Andrew West (Tui Ridge Park Manager) and his team shared with the visitors the vision that we as a church have for the new development: a vision of being able to contribute well to the needs of the local and national community.
Please remember Pastor Jeffery Pau in your prayers. Pastor Jeffery is from Burma. He is currently the pastor for Thames, Waihi and Te Aroha churches. He has been unable to make contact with his family who live in Yangon, which is one of the areas affected by the recent devastating cyclone in Burma. Email Jeffery at jefferypumpau@yahoo.com
The Taranaki churches gathered at Hawera church last Sabbath for their annual regional Sabbath. Our pastors in the Taranaki are Paul Hopson pic. (New Plymouth) and Marliyn Pasione (Hawera, Stratford). The principal for the New Plymouth school is Smiley Aiono.
A new evangelistic outreach began three weeks ago in New Plymouth. ‘Soul Food’ is the name of a regular 5pm Sabbath program that uses a converted restaurant to make contact with the local community. Church members have been busy preparing the facility, advertising the program and praying for their contacts. For several years they have been running a soup kitchen in the area. Paul Hopson reports that last Sabbath 25 people were attendance to enjoy the fellowship, hot drinks and a discussion on the reality of God.
