What's new in New Zealand?

The doctor prodded and poked, asked many questions and performed various tests. After about half an hour, my New Zealand Immigration medical was all over.

All that needed to be done was send the results away to New Zealand Immigration and my state of health would be assessed. I’m pleased to say that, aside from a few small concerns, I was passed with a clean bill of health. It seemed no time before I was on the plane bound for New Zealand with a visa to work with students sharing the gospel.

Outreach on campus

Two years ago, I had led a small team from the UK to work with the Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship in some of their evangelistic outreaches on campuses around the country. Having seen the needs and opportunities, my wife Jenni and I were invited to return to New Zealand on a more permanent basis. After much prayer and consideration, we left the UK in January this year, so that I could join TSCF as their National Outreach Co-ordinator, based in Wellington.

It’s been an exciting six months. I’ve enjoyed working in a different IFES movement and getting to know a new culture. It’s still early days, but I trust some of these early observations of the spiritual condition and state of the church may prove helpful in fuelling your prayers and enlarging your vision.

NZ culture

I’m constantly struck by the scenic beauty of the landscape. I can see why early settlers called it ‘God’s Own’. You may have seen some of the images in the 100% New Zealand campaign. Many Kiwis embrace the outdoor life, which is fantastic, but can lead to a pre-occupation with leisure and a lack of commitment to church attendance. It has surprised me that many committed Christians here regard Sunday services as optional. The biggest denomination for those who call themselves Christians in their 20s and 30s are those who are not part of any formal church community at all.

Kiwi society is extremely welcoming. The Maori phrase Haere Mai (lit. Welcome) is one that both the church and culture embraces. The welcome we received when arriving at Auckland airport stood out as one of great warmth and, as we walked around the city, it was evident that families from South East Asia and Polynesia had been embraced by the city. This cultural diversity is a real strength of life in New Zealand. Over half of the students with whom TSCF work are internationals, which is a fantastic opportunity. Although New Zealand is isolated, it is strongly connected around the Pacific Rim and throughout Asia. Over the last couple of weeks, we have seen students from Asia and the Middle East professing faith in Christ. One of the challenges that the church faces in this regard is integration. Many congregations meet in ethnic groups. In Wellington, we have Chinese, Pacific Island, Korean and Greek speaking churches, to name but a few.

Maori/European

A further challenge is biculturalism, which is the relationship between the Maori and those who have come since European settlement. A number of compensation claims for historical Treaty violations are currently being processed. The Maoris have a holistic view of life and prayers will often be said as an important part of any Maori meeting or ceremony. It is interesting that public prayer has a place in secular New Zealand because of this cultural value. I see this being a positive opportunity. TSCF is working hard at biculturalism and has adopted a Maori by-line, He akonga ki nga akonga hei ara whakawhiti mo te Kariti — students as a bridge over which students meet Christ.

A notable difference between the British church and the one here in New Zealand is the diminished emphasis placed on denominational differences. Of course, not having a State church affects this, but I have been in churches where I have asked: ‘What denomination is this?’ and no one has seemed to either know or care!

Doctrine/pragmatism

Evangelicalism is far less defined in New Zealand and, very often, the definitions are based on pragmatism rather than doctrine. The lack of clarity regarding essentials has really been driven by postmodern attitudes and beliefs regarding truth, which have taken hold in the church. While many would articulate evangelical beliefs when pushed, these doctrines are often watered down in practice. The stand-out example is the value placed on Scripture. We have sat through several church services where little more than a verse here or there has been read. This also plays out in evangelism, where there is a real lack of confidence in Scripture and a lack of clarity regarding what the gospel is. Thus, a lack of confidence in proclamation in evangelism is endemic.

Probably the thing that shocked me most is the growing secularism in the nation. New Zealand was the first country in the world to accept same-sex unions in immigration applications. We have legalised prostitution and child smacking was recently outlawed. We have one of the highest levels of domestic violence and child abuse in the developed world and misuse of alcohol is a major social problem.

Ten years ahead in secularism

Nigel Pollock, the Executive Director of the Pacific Partnership Trust, who also serves as National Director of TSCF, believes ‘New Zealand is ten years ahead of the UK in its secularism, which presents a unique opportunity to develop new ways of communicating the gospel to unchurched people’. He is exploring creative ways of engaging which are not dependant on imported programmes. This is one of the reasons that I have been asked to come: to help with this process of listening to the culture and helping students and graduates to think missiologically.

Already there are some encouragements. It has been a real joy to work with gospel-centred Christians here in New Zealand. There are folks who long to engage the culture, who have not diminished the importance and sufficiency of Scripture. There are students who are learning how to be bicultural and multi-cultural in their gospel engagement. There are church leaders who long for doctrinal clarity, evangelical unity and Christ-centred evangelistic activity. We are developing significant partnerships in leadership development and graduate ministry in Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Undivided lives

As TSCF, our desire is to see students reached for Christ with the gospel. We want to see students living undivided lives as true witnesses of Christ, thinking deeply about issues of life, faith and godliness, and through them to reach to the ends of the earth. The challenges we face are huge, the opportunities we have are many, the workers are few. We have an amazing team of staff from Australia, Malaysia, England, USA, Scotland and, of course, New Zealand, and we’d love to see this grow.

Could you pray for us and New Zealand regularly? There is a group that meets in London on a regular basis — we would be happy to put you in contact with them. Could you give regularly to support the work? We would love to hear from you as we seek to see the gospel transform lives here in this small, but significant part of God’s world.

For more information on how you could be involved in and support the work of the gospel in New Zealand, go to www.pacificpartnershiptrust.org.uk.

Ben Carswell,
TSCF National Outreach Co-ordinator
http://www.bencarswell.blogspot.com
benc@tscf.org.nz