Naenae For Christ Community Church

After much painting, organising, blood, sweat and at times nearly tears we launched Naenae for Christ Community Church.  It was a wonderful morning, with many friends supporting us from both Heretaunga and Riverbend Bible Church.  It was also made more wonderful by Joel being baptized.  We were able to achieve a lot in the 5 weeks that we had the keys prior to opening.  Windows were replaced, new carpet, paint throughout, sound put in and the list goes on and on.  We could not have done it without an amazing team of committed people and several working bees.  A big thank you to everyone who helped in any way.  Thank you also to all those, especially in the States, who have supported us over the last two years to enable us to do this.  We praise God for you and for your willingness to support a ministry on the other side of the world.  

Following are photos of our first morning.

God Answers Prayer!

You may have heard that we are now the proud stewards of a church building in Naenae.  Over a year ago we approached a small congregation of about 20 people who fellowshipped here to see if they were open to us starting a new work.  At this time they were not open to the idea but as the year went on and an $8000 insurance bill needed to be paid, they made the decision to close the doors and pass the keys to us.  We have been praying for a building for two years now and were seriously considering buying another building when this happened.  We are again, amazed at God's timing and faithfulness.  The last two years have been discouraging at times but this has confirmed for us that we are in the right place.

We received the keys two days before Christmas and have been busy trying to organise the many things that need to be done since.  The whole place needs a paint and new carpet etc. Please pray for us  as we make many decisions concerning the building and the beginning of the church here in Naenae.  We are still working towards bringing Cody and Cassie Chaplin here to help in the work, especially in the area of music.  This would be a huge help to the ministry.  We do have a few faithful families willing to be involved but this is our summer here so it is a difficult time of year to ask people to give of their time.  We have been blessed by a couple of churches here with some funds to begin some of the renovations that need to be done.  

Thank you for your prayers and support.  We will try to keep you updated more than we have in the past.  We value your interest in our ministry here in New Zealand.

Here are some "before" photos.  Hopefully some "after" photos will follow. 

The auditorium.  Needs a good paint and new carpet.  There is also no sound gear, projector or screen.  We have graciously been given a projector so all we need is a screen and to get it all up and running.

 Looking from the front down.  We can get more room by opening up the doors on the left hand side and turning the chairs around and putting the stage on the right.

 The kitchen after two days of scrubbing.  Looking forward to this getting a paint.  It needs new ovens and a dishwasher, a zip etc.  There is basically nothing in it, just a few teacups and saucers.

 The youth hall which will be used as a Sunday School room.

The women's bathroom.  

Much Overdue Update

Sorry about the lack of blog posts.  We have been sending out email updates to those on our list so if you missed this and are interested I have posted it below.  I have also included a few photos of some different happenings.

Greetings all in the precious name of Jesus Christ

We do hope that this e-mail finds you all well and rejoicing. According to Heb 3, the church is vital in helping the saints keep going in the faith. You all in different ways are helping us to keep going. We know, and we experience the very real hardening nature of sin. One of the ways it does not consume us is your standing in the gap through prayer and encouragement. We are deeply grateful to you all. Listed below are a few of the recent happenings, some things coming up, and some ways you can be praying for us.

Recent Happenings

1. The family are all well and growing up. We had both of our girls at work the other day; at the same time. Rachel has got her life guarding qualifications recently and is employed at Naenae pool. Praise God for that! I also redid my qualifications as that is my background. For me it is preparation for a time coming when we will need to help support ourselves, but at present I will be working at Stokes Valley pool on a casual basis.

2. Anna-Marie has recently passed her restricted drivers licence and is often out with the car (during the allotted hours and by herself!). Another indicator of a family growing up.

3. We had our biggest turn-out on Sunday at our Naenae drop-in centre. Around 60 from the community came, it was a great after-noon.

4. Mark has had the joy over the last several weeks to preach at different churches; Heretaunga, Onslow, and the Kings Arms.

Things coming up

1. This Thursday night we begin a three week life group for those interested in the church plant. At the moment about 4 families have voiced interest with at least 2 of them very keen on a church plant. After the three weeks it will turn into a Lower Hutt life group with several families interested.

2. The Lower Hutt city council are starting a program in the 4th term that provides breakfast for school age children. This will be at the community hall in Naenae and Mark is going to get involved in that.

Prayer Requests

1. That the Thursday night studies on the church plant would solidify a team that is eager to reach out with the gospel.

2. That our Sunday afternoon drop-in centre would see many people saved. That the women's Bible study that has come out of this would continue to grow and meet the needs of those coming.

3. That, even though the little church in Naenae said no to merging with them and beginning a new work, God would continue to put us on their hearts and bring them to the place where they change their mind.

4. That God may give us the grace to break down the destructive sin of drunkenness which is rampant in this community. That these women; G and S and J would respond to the gospel. That their children would be saved and spared from continuing the cycle. That Mark's mentoring of some of these women's son's; F, T, and T, would go well and produce much fruit.

5. That Anna-Marie would be healed of her sickness. Even though she has continued to function she has been unwell since the open heart surgery. She is low in iron, has been coughing now for some weeks and is generally unwell.

Thank you all for your friendship, love, and support. 

May God richly fill your lives with His supernatural joy!

The Gordon family

Joel and his friends ready to go paintballing on his birthday.

Rachel and Anna-Marie ready for the school ball/prom.

Rachel represented the Hutt Valley in their under 17 basketball team.  Her team did well in the regionals and went on to come 8th in the Nationals.

Mark, Joel, Rachel and Matthew after taking part in a half marathon (Mark) and a 5km run.

Mark playing table tennis at Naenae for Christ.

Rachel serving food.

Anna-Marie

We really wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who supported us during Anna-Marie's recent operation. It meant a lot to us to be covered by the prayers of those dear to us at Immanuel, Buck Run, Riverbend Bible Church and our friends and family here. The doctors were very pleased with how everything went. Hopefully it will be at least 8-10 years before she needs the pacemaker replaced and many, many years before she needs any more open heart, valve repair or replacement surgery.

She is recovering very well. It has been five weeks now. She is still quite sore but is back at school and coping well. Probably one of the hardest things for her now is getting back into school and catching up. This is made even more difficult through the effects of being on a bypass machine. Having this kind of surgery can effect your concentration and ability to think clearly for up to six months. She is finding school quite hard in this regards at the moment but will hopefully recover from this quickly since she has youth on her side.

It was encouraging for us to watch her trust the Lord during this difficult time. She was incredibly brave about everything she went through and we are very proud to be her parents. She is a very strong young lady with a faith in God that reflects in her life. Many nurses commented on how polite and sweet she was even at the worst of times.

This is a picture of her and Matthew just a few minutes before she was wheeled away to surgery.

Rafting Trip

My Dad is a great outdoors man. He owns several rafts and goes on several trips most summers. This year Rachel and Joel were able to go with him and loved it. They rafted down part of the Rangitikei River which has only three or four grade three rapids but is otherwise pretty calm but fun to raft. It is also a very pretty river to raft and camp next to. The trip took three days and two nights.This is not Rachel and Joel but some more experienced rafters on the trip with them.


They both had to learn how to cook over the fire and look after themselves.

Matthew's 11th Birthday

Now that Matthew has a summer birthday we spent the afternoon at the park and the beach. Very thankful to God for blessing us with Matthew. He starts intermediate (middle school) this year. Wow where does the time go?

Opening presents.
Rachel, delivering the cake.
Aunty Leanne and little Isla.
The cake.

Summer Vacation

In January we were very blessed to be able to go on a family vacation for a few weeks down to the South Island. Some very generous friends allowed us to use their holiday home up in the hills just outside of Christchurch. It was a beautiful home with incredible views. It was a very refreshing and relaxing time.Some of the destruction left from the 6.3 earthquake that hit Christchurch in February 2011. 185 died in the earthquake and many areas in the city have been deemed unlivable. In the two weeks that we were there we felt at least one earthquake almost everyday. About three of them were 5.o or over. Those ones were a little scary. We experienced in a very small way what the people of Christchurch are facing every day.
Driving out to the beach, these containers are placed against the cliffs to protect the traffic and pedestrians in the event of another large earthquake.
Enjoying the ocean.
Flowers and notes left on the fences keeping people out of the CBD.
Since the CBD has been unusable since February this container mall was set up, it was very well done.

Having competitions with the slug gun.
Anna-Marie was the first to hit the can, she was pretty happy with herself.
Rachel and I out rabbit shooting one evening. Rabbits are a pest to farmers in New Zealand.

There were great views all around us.

Mark and Joel kayaking in Akaroa, a cute little town not far from Christchurch.
Matthew has started to become interested in photography. He took this photo of seagulls with Anna-Marie's camera.
The rabbit that didn't get away.

Matthew and Anna-Marie enjoying the spa.

Christmas Update

A very big Merry Christmas to you all. Can you believe another year has come and gone? Last year at this time we were in the mountains of Northern California, and the Christmas before that we were at Disney world in Florida. This year we are celebrating our first Christmas with family in 5 years, we are looking forward to it. We wanted to wait until our last event was over before we updated so that we could add some photos. Last Sunday we had a Naenae community Christmas dinner, we had about 170 people come, and it was a wonderful evening. The scattered photo’s are of the family at the Christmas dinner.

This Year

We can now look back on a year of mixed emotions with a real sense of thankfulness to God. We did find the re-establishing process long and at times difficult. There have been times of loneliness, frustration, and missing the States. However, as we come to the end of the year we can see how God is shaping us and the work that He wants done here. A special thank you to our supporting churches, Heretaunga Christian Centre, and Riverbend Bible Church, Immanuel Baptist Church and Buck Run Baptist Church who have encouraged us in so many ways this year.

Naenae for Christ outreach

The highlight of this year has been the establishment of a weekly outreach in our community, Naenae. We started this in March and have opened the doors at the community center for 36 Sundays. We finished, for the year, last week with a Christmas kai. What a privilege to preach the gospel to 100 adults at the dinner. We asked those who came to write their names and contacts on a piece of paper, if interested in a church starting next year, and/or a women’s fellowship group. Six people indicated an interest in church and 14 indicated an interest in a women’s group. Some of those on the list were very weary of us at the beginning of the year and it has shown us how many barriers have been broken down.

Preaching

Mark has had the joy of preaching 9 times at our home church this year, 5 times in other churches, and 35 times at the little “church service” at the Naenae for Christ outreach. This “church service” attracted an average of about 6 (from the community) earlier in the year but the last two months has seen on average about 16 coming. We continue to believe that the Word of God will not return void but will accomplish the task of saving and sanctifying sinners.

Other Ministries

We have also been involved this year in running the Christian group at the high school Anna-Marie, Rachel, and Joel attend. Mark ran a Bible study out of a church right in the heart of Wellington city. This remained small throughout the year but will continue next year with a bit more of an evangelism focus. Mark ran a 2 month church planting home group for interested people, and he trained 5 youth leaders in how to study Scripture and prepare and preach a sermon. We have also just written an evangelistic tract especially suited for our community. It has all local photos and the fictitious story that runs through it is about a couple from Naenae. We are hoping this encourages our Naenae for Christ team in their evangelism. If you want to have a look at it, send me your address and I will send you one, your comments will be helpful.

Family

The children are all doing very well. They all did very well at school and have enjoyed being in school for the first time. We are so thankful to God for the work in our children that He has done. They minister with us at Naenae for Christ and have been sharing Christ at their secular school. Anna-Marie had a pace-maker inserted when she was 4 years old and in January next year she needs to have it replaced, a heart valve fixed, and an old lead taken out of one of her veins. This is going to require open heart surgery, so we are preparing ourselves for that. Please remember Anna-Marie in your prayers.

Tania has taken the longest to adjust back to NZ living. We have had to work through some difficult times but the Lord has always enabled us to do this. Tania is in the process of getting her teaching license renewed so that she can do some relieving teaching next year. Mark has missed the States but hides it better than Tania. He now looks back on the year with thankfulness as he sees God’s hand in our lives. His leg issues put him out of action for almost 9 weeks this year, and he did waste a bit of time, but he does desire to be more focused next year.

Church Plant

We will enter 2012 having not yet planted a church but still confident that all we are involved in is laying the foundations for a church to be started. The desire to pastor the people of Naenae is growing stronger and the outreach we are leading seems very likely to end in a church planted. We have struggled to find interested people to join a church planting team but the last two months has brought two families to light.

Next Year

All of the ministry opportunities this year are continuing next year. In addition we are adding a women’s fellowship group to our Naenae for Christ ministry which Tania will be involved in running. We also hope to establish a youth work in Naenae. We praise God that the two churches in the US and the one in New Zealand that have financially supported us this year, are continuing their support for 2012.

Prayer Needs

• Anna-Marie’s operation in Jan or Feb
• Word of God to do its work in people’s lives
• That the tract would be used to bring many to Christ
• Family unity and continued submission to Christ above all else
• A church planting team raised up from those showing interest
• Naenae for Christ’s ministries, drop in center, women’s group, and youth work
• Thanksgiving for churches continuing their financial support of us for 2012

Thank you all so much for your support this year, we have needed the financial support and we have desperately needed the prayer support. We have valued the e-mails, occasional Skype conversations, and the facebook likes and comments. You are all very dear to our hearts and we thank you for your continued support and care of our family.

May Christ continue to be your all in all

With much love

Mark, Tania, Anna-Marie, Rachel, Joel, and Matthew Gordon