May 12th
Greetings all,
It is often reported that this Chinese symbol for the word “Crisis” is actually made up of two characters – ‘Danger’, and ‘Opportunity.’ This seems to sum up life in Christchurch at this time!
Danger as highlighted by another sharp quake yesterday reawakening fear; and the resulting emotional, spiritual and physical weariness.
Opportunity that abounds due to the vulnerability and needs so prevalent. Potentially the churches finest hour, we are carriers of Faith, Hope and Love that the vulnerability of society is responding to.
May has found us firmly in the grip of Autumn, with it’s stunning colours, cooler days and sharp reminders of winter around the corner. Since my last correspondence life has been challenging for many (myself included!); experiencing an “adrenaline payback” – a term coined by a friend who says that adrenaline is ‘borrowing energy from the future, but it’s like a credit card – requiring at some stage to pay it back!” There’s a danger of not recognising the long term nature of what we are in the midst of, the sharp sprint of crisis care is largely over, but now the marathon of rebuilding begins, and experience remains our best tutor that personal care is critical to finishing the race well!
The predominant conversation and energy is now turning to rebuilding the city. Alas most of the talk is about buildings, “what will the inner city look like?” A needful conversation, but what has been revealed has been the strength of community, that people are what make an iconic city, not buildings. We believe that the church needs to engage in this conversation, we have something to offer our cities and communities wherever we are, and although we recognise that God’s Kingdom touches every aspect of society, it stems from healthy individuals that build strong marriages and families and therefore strong communities that make up strong cities that in turn make strong nations.
Christchurch city continues to readjust post quakes – with one third of beds available for accommodation gone, one half of all licensed food and beverage licenses gone, perhaps one quarter of church buildings damaged. Many churches are meeting together on Sunday’s, many organisations are combining offices and resources. Ironically the deaf society and blind society are sharing premises! The two largest churches in Christchurch are sharing premises. And amazingly…it seems to be working! We are forced to build community, forced to work together, forced to embrace our neighbour. And we are learning and growing from this.
As a church we have seen families leave for South Africa, Australia, Brazil as well as other parts of NZ as a direct response to the quakes. And yet the door of opportunity is wide open…..we have seen some amazing community connections develop. Some folk initiated a very simple street party using the Neighbourhood support program and saw one third of a street gather to meet and support one another. We seek to do this in many streets in our area. We were privileged to give out 120 shoe boxes filled with treats, kindly donated by churches in Gisborne. We continue to be overwhelmed by your support in so many ways – financially, prayerfully, relationally…..We truly are amazed at your unbelievable love at this challenging time. Please accept our deepest thanks.
Please pray that the church can participate in the ongoing conversation of rebuilding the city with wisdom and creativity. That the right voices will be heard at this time, that the Kingdom of God can be expressed in loving acts of kindness, but also in power and authority. At times like these we realise that materialism and consumerism have deceived us, ‘things’ will never satisfy; people need to touch transcendence, people need spiritual food, they need Jesus, therefore they need us as his agents of faith, hope and love. The church can shine in this hour!
Again, we are overwhelmed by your love and support. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
All our love
Donald and Janice and the team at Northcity Church, Christchurch
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March 24th
Hi all,
We continue to be overwhelmed with support from you all; prayers, finances, people coming to serve and simply knowing you are with us, that this is our crisis, thanks so much for being there. Finances given have enabled us to have a person released and devoted to running our response; vouchers to be given; food bought; volunteers blessed with time away to recover, and so much more. With more than a month now since the quake, tiredness is surfacing- we are very aware of once adrenalin for the moment wanes, emotional, physical and spiritual tiredness become apparent. I have noticed this increasing this week, personally experiencing these realities. I have just spoken with another Pastor in the city, on Monday night his body ‘shut down’ and has had to take a couple of days off.
The memorial service last Friday was stunning. A glorious day saw over 100,000 people gather. You could have heard a pin drop as 14 minutes of the damaged CBD was shown on the big screen. Painful, but as we sat ‘amongst’ the rubble, embracing the mystery together… we took another step towards healing. Hayley Westenra singing “Amazing Grace,” unaccompanied, seemed transcendent, and perhaps God’s Word to us. Dave Dobbyn singing the iconic “Loyal,” again the voice of God through such talented Kiwis.
This Monday Janice and I were able to walk along the CBD cordon and see much of the damage. You can now get past the Art Gallery (Civil Defence headquarters), along the Avon River, close to the cathedral. Eerily quiet, shocking scenes …… the iconic Provincial buildings, simply caved in upon itself, soon to be fodder for the relentless diggers. We are preparing for the long haul, change is the constant, uncertainty the new norm! But together, we will arise and re-build.
I hope you don’t mind, but I would like to share a passage I felt the Lord place on my heart for such a time as this, from Matthew chapter nine:
The CONTEXT that Jesus’ ministry flourished in could be likened to our own:
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
I have never seen such trauma, such confusion and helplessness – a 2 year old boy struggling to sleep due to nightmares from fleeing the rising waters following the earthquake. A teenager found lying on the grass afterwards, stunned, unable to eat for days. Mature people, freaking when an aftershock hits….so many, confused and helpless…
But this is not just our city. Tsunamis, nuclear fall out, unrest in the Middle East, recession etc is causing mis-placed securities to leave so many vulnerable….and yet remarkably open. Don’t be afraid to explore the ‘big questions’ of life, to offer prayer, share good news. People are looking for a shepherd, The Shepherd, they may not be aware of that, but you just may be the one that reveals the heart of the shepherd to them.
The COMMISSION that we have as leaders and churches:
37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
The incredible needs around us have demanded a far greater mobilisation and coordination of people and resources. But that is reality for us all – all hands on deck, you are needed! The body of Christ must rise in this vacuum, we must love, our voice must be heard. That is our role as leaders, to mobilise the body of Christ to enter the conversation, engage the community around us.
The CONTENT of Jesus message:
35Jesus travelled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.
This verse precedes the above two, and reveals Jesus message- the “Kingdom of God is amongst you,” and then demonstrated the reality of this! We need God’s Presence and Power like never before- people are hungry for spiritual reality like never before, and we had better have some manna from heaven for them. There is a hunger like never before, we are seeing that the Gospel really is Good News, we have what people are longing for…. let’s be what we are created to be. We are Good News, therefore be courageous, be confident, be Good News! Every act of love done in the Name of Jesus is an expression of the Kingdom of God – we are His agents on the earth, what a privilege, what a responsibility. Let’s not miss what could be our finest moment! The Context is ripe, the Commission is clear, the Content of our message is explosive!
Be strong and very courageous,
Donald
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March 16th
Update from Murray Smith
Almost from the very moment the news broke out of a second major earthquake in Christchurch, on Tuesday February 22nd, people from within our church began to express their concern and ask for an opportunity to be part of any initiative that we might be considering to offer help. As the media began to unwrap the situation in Christchurch and news footage brought before us explicit images of the horror and tragedy that had impacted so many lives, it became apparent to us that doing ‘something’ actually wasn’t a matter for negotiation – it became a matter of ‘how’, ‘what’ and ‘when’?
Having talked with Donald Scott, I got a flight out of Hamilton Airport to Christchurch to get a ‘feel’ first hand of the situation. The pain people were enduring became apparent from the outset as I sat in the front of the plane by the bulkhead where the Christchurch based hostess commenced her ‘safety talk’ routine. As she bravely held up the card, I noticed her eyes filling with tears. She couldn’t continue – putting the card down she sat in the seat beside me and sobbed “It’s just too much, it’s just too much…”
She talked for a number of minutes choking back tears telling her story of loss. She was happy to have prayer with me before she resumed her responsibilities.
That encounter proved to be the first of many similar ones on that particular trip.
My arrival coincided with the first Friday Quake support day that North City was hosting. Having unloaded the 100kg of bottled water, milk powder and other provisions Air New Zealand kindly let me carry, I set about helping Remi put up a gazebo. Go Remi – what a heart this guy’s got for others!
I’m so impressed with the team Donald and Janice have around them. Their heart to serve and their commitment to the community is an inspiration. One of Donald’s ‘lieutenants’, Blair Ashdowne took me with some others into several of the worst hit areas that afternoon to distribute needed items from a trailer loaded with supplies. We began by helping evacuate a condemned old-folks home and then, moved into some badly affected suburbs.
Seeing people wander down fractured streets covered in liquefaction, coming out of properties that were in various states of being unfit for habitation, we were able to offer items that were gratefully received. Groups of friends and extended families clustered in large numbers in garages, under tarpaulins, doing the best they could, cooking often from open fires outside. It was very touching. Almost invariably people whose hearts had been opened up by practical kindness, were keen for prayer and ministry. Many just wanted their story to be heard and to feel like they mattered. Others said, “we’re so glad someone has come to show we are not forgotten.”
That brief trip and what I saw of the many homeless and shattered lives was enough for me to take back to Cambridge a bunch of compelling reasons why a ‘team’ visit could have value.
Coming back, there were some who gently challenged the validity of a long drive with a team to Christchurch, proposing that the money that would be invested in such a trip might be better used being placed in North City Church’s hands to do with it as they saw fit. Our desire was to try and do both – bless financially and materially with needed items, as well as by ‘going’.
Donald and Blair had been really good in fortifying me with their perspective. Being presented with various guidelines and proposals of ‘projects’ they had in mind if extra human resources were available, was helpful. We found we had to make it clear, that we were not racing down to Christchurch to do ‘our own thing’ and to clutter up the already strained infrastructure but that we were responding to an invitation to come down and would be coming alongside to support existing local works, not trying to impose any agenda of our own.
So it was that a 10 person Bridges Church team co-ordinated and capably led by our wonderful Richie Berghan, left Cambridge for Christchurch on the afternoon of Monday 7th March arriving early the following Tuesday. They towed a trailer laden with thousands of dollars worth of donated and purchased goods that had been gathered in accordance with a ‘wish-list’ supplied by Donald’s team… tents, tarpaulins, gas cookers, gas bottles, shovels, dust masks, solar showers, solar lights as well as blankets, kids toys and food items.
Working with North City Church was a wonderful blessing – not only to be able to be under their direction in terms of where to go to meet practical needs, but also to be ambassadors for the church (big picture) in the city. It certainly is a time as described in the opening verses of Isaiah 60, to arise and shine (“illuminate”) and where darkness, despair, hopelessness have come, to bring light and shine with God’s glory.
Our team have come back with so many stories of encounters with people whose hearts were opened by practical deeds of kindness who then wanted to be ministered to in prayer. Story after story…two men who had hated each other who had nothing to do with one another prior to the quake now arm in arm reconciled, giving a tent to an incredulous man living under a tarpaulin who couldn’t comprehend love in action, handing out food items to people who would come shyly asking..”might you have a little something for me too..?”
In one cul-de-sac lined with pensioner units, 150 people in a tenement block had lost their homes. Those not evacuated had been badly impacted by the quake and these people came out into the street to talk, to receive food and various other items – two of the ladies in the team became surrounded by a group of locals and God came in such a wonderful way – lots of words of knowledge, prayer, tears and the Lord’s touch so apparent on lives – amazing to see this happening in such a setting, but where better!?
Thanks so much to North City Church, Donald and Janice, Blair, Peter and others for receiving the Bridges team and for the use of the facilities to stay in. I joined up with the team for the last two days of their five day visit. They were in good spirits and although a little tired, totally buzzing and enthusiastic about being a part of what God is doing in Christchurch. It’s been a blessing to our church since many more than just those who travelled were involved praying, giving and offering encouragement.
For any others contemplating helping ‘on the ground’, a suggestion – don’t over-project in terms of how long you go for. The 4-5 days was very full and at times physically as well as emotionally depleting and for our guys, was a good length taking into account the additional time of the road trip. Another point, the North City team have done so well networking and can best advise as to how to serve- what to bring and how to actually be of genuine assistance!
Again thanks Donald and North City for the privilege of sharing with you. The next team is getting ramped up and will be good to go. God bless in all that lies ahead for your part in His plan for the city of Christchurch.
Keep shining brightly….
Murray
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I was travelling back from Christchurch in the plane and was seated next to a trauma counselor who had just spent a week working beside the fire,ambulance and frontline workers in the CBD. He reflected on the amazing care these departments took and how that whenever a body was found they would turn off the engines from the bulldozers etc and all would carefully remove brick by brick the rubble from around the dead bodies.He spoke about it being a special moment for him , almost a sacred moment when all were silent, respectful and careful for the dead as they worked in the midst of the rubble and mess.
As the plane approached Wellington I asked if we could say a karakia before we left the plane .He was pleased and after I prayed fro him he stopped and said a prayer for me explaining he hadn’t been to church for a while but did believe in God. Its amazing in such a tome as this how open people are to the kindness of our God.
I was with Donald and Janice in Brighton before this and drove up a drive way where met briefly with a lady who was standing in the drive but clearly still in trauma. She physically shook as she spoke to us about what she was having to face with no toilet, electricity etc.Donald still sitting in the car but asked her if he could pray for her and without hesitation she said yes, bowed her head and received the kindness and comfort of God.
I imagine this type of story will be occurring thousands of times all around Christchurch in this season.
It only takes a short visit to be made aware that this earthquake has left long term damage at many levels. The need to pray, stand with and encourage our friends in Christchurch will be a long term commitment from us all.
It has been wonderful to see churches already sending teams, finances and encouragement from within the Link family to serve where needed. The Northcity church is becoming a base out of which food, help and encouragement is being sent.
I was especially impressed with the way churches are sharing premises with other churches who have lost their buildings as well as churches in areas not impacted by the earthquake adopting churches in the worse hit areas to serve and encourage.
The lament in the land is very real but in the midst of it are so many signs of hope and encouragement.
Blessings
They say that life is a series of events. The event of February 22nd at 12.51pm has changed us forever – literally bringing the beautiful city of Christchurch to its knees. Scenes of utter devastation litter the city; grief is ever present. And yet as one author once said, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”The worst are obvious for all to see, but the best are symbolically standing on the rubble and declaring that we shall rebuild this city, we will stand and work together for a brighter future. We remain stunned at the amazing unity and community spirit that has grown out of this disaster. From the bruised folk in Christchurch, and from the wider nation of Aotearoa; well done New Zealand and beyond for your amazing support, we are overwhelmed.
We stood on the grass outside our building at 12.51pm today on the first week’s anniversary observing 2 minutes silence, holding hands with our staff, many volunteers, and strangers from the city. We remembered, as many of you will have done, the tragedy and loss of life. But as we prayed afterwards, I realised the miracle of community being built amongst us, as together we reached out to the Living God for strength and grace.
Our Sunday gatherings were well attended, nothing like a good crisis to make one think about life beyond our immediate space! Powerful testimonies of God’s grace, mixed with raw emotion and confusion. I prayed for an elderly gentleman at the end of the service who was still literally shaking! I felt we needed to acknowledge the tragedy of the situation, grieve with those that grieve. To then receive God’s peace, a peace that transcends our circumstances. And then to embrace God’s mission to be agents of healing in this broken city. But one gentle step after another.
The crisis response throughout the city is multi- layered. As a church we have teams fighting on many levels. Today’s events include:
- A team going to deliver food with large trucks from 0800 Hungry – a large food bank
- A team going to Aranui Primary School to deliver food with Pastor Peter Hira and church, several tonnes of food donated from Palmerston North, flown free of charge by ANZ and transported free to the site by a carrier. Good on ya Kiwis!
- Several individuals going out to the Grace Vineyard Welfare Centre at New Brighton to serve a busted community out there.
- Several other crews heading throughout the city, clearing liquifaction, serving where needed, praying for individuals and always expressing love
We struggle asking for financial assistance, but at these times we have come to the realisation that we need help! So we so invite you to consider partnering with us in this process of restoration. We seek to bring together those with great need, and those with resources that can meet those needs. Many of you have made kind offers to have people fly up and have a break in the safety of the North Island! In all honesty, many have left the city already, and we bless their decision. But those that are here now in most cases want to stay and serve. I do have a concern for the well being of our staff and volunteers though, and towards this end, these are some of the specific areas any money given would go towards:
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- sending volunteers to Hanmer Springs for a couple of nights rest after the initial crisis response
- Quake Support days where we provide a safe environment for people to share their stories, give away food and drink etc, now both Wednesday and Friday’s, 10am to 1pm. We will also be running kids programs at this time, and effectively our doors are open 24/7, as people are staying in our building!
- Helping meet needs of those within Northcity church most affected
- the immediate needs of the wider city
So that’s our 4 pronged attack! If you choose to partner with us in this way, bank account details are below. As a note of encouragement, last year your generosity allowed us to keep the Quake Support days going, but also enabled us to buy a van for the Highway church to gather their flock together, which is now proving to be of enormous benefit!
We are humbled by your love and support. We are in good heart! We refuse to be ruled by fear – faith must prevail! The church is at the heart of the restoration of Christchurch; faith, hope and love are the foundations upon which this city will be rebuilt
Be blessed,
You continue to bless us,
All our love,
From Janice, Donald and the team at Northcity
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Feb 27th
Dear all,
Janice and I ventured beyond our suburb into the worst hit areas for several hours this morning; the impact is overwhelming – the CBD, and East in particular severely hit. Let me try and make this personal by bringing you into 4 of the situations we experienced:
- We were to meet Blair, our escort, at his home in St. Albans. Whilst going into his home, we met his neighbour, who took us to see his damaged section. There was at least 400mm of liquifaction (silt having come up from beneath the ground) covering his section. Many had helped shovel it out, but now there was brown effluent running through it at the back of his house. John (not his real name) had lost half of his upper teeth after falling off scaffolding during the earthquake. But worse still…his mother had died in the quake after falling out of her hospital bed and being crushed by a cabinet. He was obviously deeply distraught, and after I offered to pray for him, he actually said we met him on the street because he was going to get his reading glasses to be able to read his Bible, which hadn’t happened since he was a child! A genuine God encounter.
- Blair took us to his in-laws home (actually within the CBD restricted area, legally of course!) where Blair’s 3 year old boy was on the day of the quake. The 100+ year old home was a trashed- the seat where young Theo was sitting at the start of the earthquake was covered by bricks from a 2 storey chimney that had collapsed. If they had not fled outside, Theo would not be with us. The house is condemned, everything inside unable to be recovered. This situation is repeated in 100’s, probably even thousands of homes.
- We travelled to Cowle Stadium, previously a welfare centre, but now closed due to health issues. Beside the stadium on a grass area beside the road, we gave water and food to a growing tent community, a gathering of Samoan families with nowhere else to go. They were happy with their lot, already several tents erected, and appreciative of the food and water we left with them.
- We then travelled further into Aranui, not only one of the poorest suburbs in Christchurch, but perhaps the hardest hit. We went to a street largely deserted, the road severely buckled and most of the houses uninhabitable. Three houses in a row had over 35 people staying in the garages. We sat and talked with one of these groups of around 12 people, and although they had a generator, there were no toilets or water, yet we were deeply inspired at their sense of community spirit. Neighbour with neighbour, and even though one of the young guys had lost a friend, they were supporting and encouraging one another. We hadn’t taken Jesus there, it’s like he was already there working in their hearts and through this crisis. We simply came alongside what He was already doing and prayed together with them.
Please keep praying for us, and believing that through this crisis the Kingdom of God, the unshakeable Kingdom, will come forth. Ours is not to ask ‘why’, our responsibility is to worship Jesus and be obedient to His leading.
With much love
Donald
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Feb 27th
Christchurch:
Its been hard to believe the scale of the tragedy our friends in Christchurch are facing at the moment. The scenes from TV can only reveal some of the aftermath of such an event but for those who are walking through this their lives will for ever be marked in some ways by these days.
The reports from Donald and Janice there are starting to reveal a level of brokenness that is hard to believe. The present reality they face is very real.
In the midst of this they are ready and already working with the many other churches to be healing and hope .
The church in NZ is so amazing and already we are hearing of so many ways in which she is opening her doors, cleaning the streets, feeding the needy, giving accommodation to people and generally being good news where needed.
We are trusting that what we can only see naturally as a real disaster will open hearts, lives and communities both in Christchurch and NZ to the grace and provision of our God.
‘when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I’
May our our Jesus be seen to be present in unprecedented ways as we pray, give and believe for all our friends in Christchurch.
Our love and prayers are very real and with you today,
Fraser
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Feb 25th
Hi all,
No doubt many of you have been watching the images on the news reports coming through; devastating, tragic, words failing really to fully express the extent of the damage. We at Northcity, and those of us who live in the North West have probably escaped with the least damage. Other parts of the city, the CBD, the South and East in particular have been severely damaged. We grieve at the loss of homes, iconic buildings and lives.
Today we opened the doors of the church building to our wider community to simply love, listen to, comfort and serve. I am so proud of the church, so many turning out to serve, as well as many from the community, some even coming from the North Island – like Murray from Cambridge. Amazing stories coming through, tears flowing, hugs abounding and community being built – transcending culture, background and belief. We will be doing this again next Friday, and every Friday we think it necessary. We will be in this for the long haul- this will take weeks for any semblance of normality to return, this will take years for the restoration of our city.
From the depths of our hearts we say “thanks so much” for your love, support and prayers. We cannot cope on our own, we need you! And perhaps this is one of the lessons we can learn, we need each other more than we have ever realised. We need GOD more than we have ever realised. Many continue to ask how they can support. Prayer of course being the main support at this stage, so please pray for:
- Families/ friends of those who have lost loved ones
- For housing, clothing, food to be available for all
- All those serving in Civil Defence and Emergency Response teams
- That fear would not grip people, but the Comfort of the Holy Spirit would prevail
- A coordinated response from the city wide church
- The church to be a Voice in the ongoing rebuilding of the city
Many have also asked what they can give at this time. You do as you feel the Lord would lead, but I do suggest waiting to give financially until the dust settles (literally!), and we have a clear strategy to move ahead. We seek His wisdom, His blue print for the city. Pray for wisdom for us to move in God’s timing and strategy.
Be blessed, you are blessing us
All our love
Donald and Janice and the whanau at Northcity
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Feb 24th
Hi all,
It is with a great mixture of emotions that I write from the devastation of Christchurch. Today is surreal, even eerie. Yesterdays shocks were just that, shocking. But we never dreamt of the consequences – only just catching up with the carnage – Israel and Miriam’s street out Brighton way has cars stuck in holes in a previously good road. Serious damage to buildings, both heritage and modern, lives lost and emotions severely tested. We had 9 extra stay with us last night and again tonight simply cause their power off, and liquefaction in their street. I didn’t sleep a wink last night, so much going on in my mind and heart – not fear, but anxious for lost and trapped lives. And oh so many more earthquakes! No quick fixes here, no simple solutions. But your support and love is so precious to us. Most are asking how you can help – outside of prayers, which we treasure, and maybe down the track specialist help, it’s so hard to know. We need time, we need the love of Jesus that alone can rebuild. And just knowing you are there is deeply comforting.
Appreciate all the emails and calls of support and encouragement
Ka kite ano
Donald