Merry Christmas

I want to thank you all for your support over the past few months.  We at tranzsend have truly appreciated your gifts, your prayers, and your encouragement as we have navigated difficult times.  One thing is for certain… we head into a future where great things will happen for the Kingdom of God.

I’ve just finished reading Richard Stearns book “The hole in our Gospel”, a tremendous read but a challenging one.  Another thing for certain about the future is that if we as the body of Christ do not more intentionally get about our Fathers business through bringing the good news to all people, especially the poor, we will have a lot to answer for at judgement day.

A word of caution… if you are happy with the status quo DON’T read this book.  If you believe our duty is to focus only on those who are lost in our immediate community DON’T read this book.  If on the other hand you want to unravel the knot in your stomach that there is more to the gospel than what you currently experience then READ the book.  It will challenge you, it will change you and I pray it will give you more resolve to engage the world we live in.

We celebrate one of the most powerful acts of grace one could imagine.  God the Father chose to send his Son in spectacular fashion to incarnate himself in our world.  May we reflect on that this Christmas time as we consider our response to a world that is in great need.  May you be inspired, resourced and mobilised to join God in his work around the globe.

Merry Christmas, Peter Mihaere

Auckland Dates and Locations confirmed

For all those waiting for the Auckland dates for our consultations in February… here they are:

Monday 15^th February      

1.30pm – 3pm Manurewa Baptist Church,  9 Lupton Rd,  Manurewa

7.30pm – 9pm Manukau City Baptist Church, Lambie Drive,  Manukau

Tuesday 16^th February    

7.30pm – 9pm Royal Oak Baptist Church, 114 Symonds St, Royal Oak

7.30pm – 9pm Henderson Baptist Church, 319 Great North Rd, Henderson

Wed          17^th February    

7.30pm – 9pm Windsor Park Baptist Church, 550 East Coast Bays Rd., Mairangi Bay

7.30pm – 9pm Orewa Baptist Church,  2-4 Loop Rd.,  Orewa

Thurs      18^th February     

10.30am – 12.00 Northcote Baptist Church,  67 Eban Ave., Hillcrest, North Shore City

All sessions will be 90 minutes long…

Baptist Gathering affirming of tranzsend's journey

At the beginning of November the annual gathering of Baptist Churches met in Rangiora.  The theme of the gathering was “hearing from the God who speaks”, an appropriate theme for the 124^th Assembly of the New Zealand Missionary Society, tranzsend.

On the Friday night tranzsend launched its 125^th year with ‘Rove’ styled interviews with missionaries past, present and future under the titles THEN, NOW, NEXT.  We even Skyped in people from the field including 14 year old Lora as she shared how God was speaking to her.  Celebrating 125 years of global mission will be one of our themes for the next 12 months as we celebrate 125 years of global mission and honour the messengers who take the Good News to the world.

Saturday during the business session where we presented our annual report, our financial performance and budget for the coming year.

Unexpectedly, we were greatly affirmed as an organisation and as a ministry of the family of baptist churches.  We take this affirmation seriously.  What has helped has been the consultations that Neil and I have been conducting around the country.  Neil has concluded a consultation in the deep south and we pick up the rest of the country in February.   See the latest dates:

Auckland – 15^th to 18^th February (Peter & Neil)

Taranaki/Manuwatu/Ruapehu – 21^st to 28^th February (Peter)

Wellington/Wairarapa/Kapiti Coast – 1^st to 7^th March (Neil)

Waikato – 14^th to 21^st March (Peter)

Eastern BOP, Gisborne, Napier, Taupo & Putararu 22^nd to 29^th March (Neil)

Please come out and dialogue… we will post exact dates and venues shortly.

Cheers, Peter Mihaere