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NGA MIHI MO TE IWI WHANUI Tena Koutou te whanau e noho mai te Maara

waina o Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa me nga

Mihana Maori iroto Ahiteiria me tea o whanui

tonu.

NGA AITUA O TE MOTU WHANUI He mihi aroha ki nga Aitua o te Ru I mate mai I Otautahi. Its now 4 years since that horrific day of the Earthquake. Peggy Nobel, Susan Cleveland – Ashburton Winz Office, May they rise in Glory to our Lord. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Nga mihi kia koutou te whanau pani e noho mai I te pouri. Ma Te Atua koutou e manaaki.

BREAKING NEWS: BREAKING NEWS. A Maori Elder from Ngati Porou died suddenly overnight - Mr Amster Reedy. Amster was a well-known Maori educationalist in Maori, and a former Liaison officer with the NZ Olympics and All Black rugby team. Kei te tangi te iwi Maori Whanaui His Funeral service will be at Hiruharama Marae at 10am. We mourn with the family. The Anglican Maori Diocese of Te Waipounamu sends their sympathies and aroha. Na Pihopa John

NGA TURORO Healing in Faith The Revd Dr Api Mahuika, Paula Jakeman – , The

Rev Turi Coleman, Rev Stacey Hakaraia, Jill Karatai,

Rev Canon Graeme Grennell, Rev Puti Puti and Revd

Potene. To the sick who are unknown to us in

Aotearoa and across the world. I will not die but live

and will proclaim what the lord has done (psalm

118.17)

NGA INOI MO NGA HIPI NGARO Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him

while he is near. (Isaiah 55:6) Rapua a Ihowa, kei

kitea ana ia; karangatia atu, kei tata ana mai ia.

Through Christ let us continually offer up a sacrifice

of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that

acknowledge his name. (Hebrews 13:15)

HOW TO PRAY This is often called the Lord’s Prayer because Jesus

gave it to the disciples as a model for them (and us)

to keep in mind as we pray. It can be a pattern for

our prayers. We should praise God, pray for His

work in the world, pray for our daily needs, and

pray for help in our daily struggles.

TE PIHOPATANGA NEWS IN BRIEF NEW APOINTMENTS ANGLICAN MAORI DIOCESE

TE WAIPOUNAMU Nga Mihi ki nga Kaimahi. Nau

Mai Haere Mai.

ISSUE: Special Edition September 2014

TE PURONGO KORERO

TE WAIPOUNAMU

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The Revd Dr Paul Reynolds of Whanganui has been

appointed Executive Assistant to Bishop John Gray

to have oversight of administration. He has a

Doctorate in health research, Business

Management and Administration.

Bill Karaitana of Ngai Tahu, based in Tauranga has

been appointed Advisor for the new building

project and oversight of accounting Budgeting and

project management of our new centre.

Yoko Matusoma has been appointed Financial

Controller of the Amorangi. She is a Japanese

national. Ohaio

One Enabler for Mission to be appointed soon in

preparation for the National Church Decade of

Mission in 2015. Next year a further enabler will be

appointed for mission duties in the North Island.

Another way of preparing a Sermon.

OTAUTAHI (Fourth Year Anniversary of the Earthquake) We wish to reflect on the social ills of living in the torn city of Christchurch since the earthquake devastation four years ago on the 4th September 2010. It has been a major task of helping people to re-settle and in some extreme cases people are living in cars and sheds. This all became the horror and death of innocent people of the earthquake. We ask that the Grace God be with them. The changes have been dramatic in the social fabric of our Society. A conservative city with a reputation of self-dependence in the Business World. The infrastructure was destroyed at a moment’s notice.

The poor became poorer and the Rich feared its wealth would disappear forever. Overall the loss experienced were people and resources Homeless man Kemara was not prepared for the encounter with the earthquake aftermath. He took to Christchurch’s bitterly cold central city’s

streets as a man with no fixed abode. He had hit an emotional wall. After the first week he found himself, quite by accident, face-to-face with people he knew. Though Kemara is clean-

shaven and well-dressed, he cannot hide the physical wear and tear of being homeless. His workmates saw the truth – he was living on the streets. “It could have gone either way. They could have pretended to recognise me or been really good about it,” he said. It was the latter. His former and workmates offered him support he refused. Kemara is still living rough in a tin-roofed shelter, sleeping on a cold concrete floor. “I am comfortable on the streets but I realize at some stage I will have to transition back into a home,” he said quietly. Kemara is getting some help and attends a course. Ma Te Atua e manaaki i tiaki te pani me te

rawakore i Otautahi.

TE WAIPOUNAMU

A visit to the Holy Land Our prayers are with the delegation who depart for Israel on Sunday 21st September 2014 (Palestine of Jesus Course at St Georges College) On their return they will do Studies at the Anglican Centre in Rome. Archbishop Moxon will be hosting we thank him for his hospitality.

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New Mission Building at 290 Ferry Rd Christchurch. To be completed early 2015 any koha will be appreciated.

DUNEDIN DIOCESE We wish to thank the Bishop for the churches in Mataura and Green Island that will be a permanent base for our congregations to worship at.

SYDNEY

A Brief History of the Anglican Maori Mission Church in Sydney

Harry Lomax a former parishioner who returned to Aotearoa 15 years ago reports. The Diocese of Sydney is well known for its Evangelical and conservative views in the doctrines of the bible. The Late Bishop Manu Bennett was requested by the Archbishop of Sydney to send a Maori Missioner to Sydney to take services in the whole of Australia. On a request from the diocese of Sydney that Bishop Manu Bennett come to Sydney to discuss a partnership with the Bishopric of Aotearoa and to also approach other denominations such as the Catholic Church to send Maori Priests to serve our people in Australia. The first minister to arrive was Father Brian Conden from The Catholic Faith, approx. 30 years ago. He was part of the Hunter Hill Catholic Seminary. He administered to the Maori Catholic people in that area. The Maori Anglican community was developed into a Mission with the assistance of Allen Whittom, the missions coordinator of the Mission Society of the Anglican Church at the St. Andrews Cathedral House in Sydney. The first church he arranged for the Maori Mission to use was St. John’s in Glebe. The first church given to the Maori Mission was the Catholic Apostolic Church (break away from Lutheran Church) in Redfern. The Late Ven Kingi Ihaka was inducted to lead the Anglican Maori community for a period of five years and acted in the role as Maori Chaplain in Sydney and the whole of Australia. On his retirement through ill health he returned to Aotearoa. His replacement was the Late Rev. Jim Tahere (from Christchurch). The funding of this position was share by the Bishopric of Aotearoa and the Diocese of Sydney. We thank the Sydney Diocese for their ongoing support.

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MAORI TELEVISION High-profile Maori Television executives Julian Wilcox and Carol Hirschfeld have been demoted from their jobs in a restructure process announced to staff at the station. Maori Television Service chief executive Paora Maxwell briefed his executive staff this morning about a structural realignment that has seen Mr Wilcox and Ms Hirschfeld both big casualties in the changes at the station. E Hika Ma! Lord help us please

TERRIORISM IN AUSTRALIA ALERT ALERT! ASIO and the Australian Federal Police have launched a number of raids across homes in Sydney and Brisbane this morning. NSW Police confirmed arrests have been made in the early morning raid, but it is as yet unclear how many. It is believed dozens of suspects have been taken into custody. Nine News is reporting forensic officers are on the scene at the Guilford raids and it appeared that police had seized cash. The operation is understood to have been given the all clear after months of surveillance of Australians believed to be linked to extremist terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The terror cell targeted in the raids is believed to have been close to an attack, and reports have emerged the groups may have been planning beheadings or mass shootings on home soil. Victoria Police confirmed there were no anti-terror raids in Melbourne as a co-ordinated operation unfolds in Brisbane and Sydney. Our Maori people need to be vigilant and our prayers are with you all in the Maori Mission in Brisbane Te Rau Oriwa and Sydney Te Wairua Tapu. May the Lord keep them all safe during these difficult times.

NZ ELECTION FEVER SEPTEMBER 20TH 2014

THE ARCHBISHOPS OF AOTEAROA, NEW ZEALAND

& POLYNESIA MAKE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT

AS A GUIDE FOR ANGLICANS TO VOTE.

Principles for Voting 1: Each person possesses a dignity that comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment. The foundational human rights that protect this dignity include food and shelter, work, education and health care. Therefore, the test of any policy is whether it ensures that everyone – regardless of race, gender, age or economic status – Has these needs been met. This must be the first priority of any political system. 2: We are called into community. People realise their full potential, both rights and responsibilities, in relationship with others. Our most treasured values are learned when we live in close and loving relationships with each other across standard social barriers. A central test of both institutions and policies is what they do with people and how they enable people to contribute and participate. Anything done to or for a group of people who are disconnected from the process is of enduring concern from a Gospel perspective. Furthermore, in Aotearoa / New Zealand our institutions must take account of the special relationships between all our peoples brought into being by the Treaty of Waitangi.

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3: All are called to work for the common good of society. Individuals and groups have an obligation to pursue not only their own interests but the good of all. This is no more or less than an application of the second commandment: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (Matthew 12:31). 4: Work is more than a way to make a living. It is participation in God's creation. The unpaid contribution of voluntary workers, home makers, people with disabilities, the elderly and others, is of equal value to the contribution made by those in paid employment. No policy should disadvantage or stigmatise those contributing to the well-being of society in ways that do not earn wages. However, people have the right to decent and productive employment, and to fair wages and working conditions. Paid workers are not impersonal instruments of production. In any economic order based on justice, human labour takes priority over capital and technology.

5: We are stewards rather than owners of God’s creation. All economic activity must be an out-working of a commitment to ensure the sustainability of creation. Our use of the resources of creation is to be in such a manner that we enhance the inheritance that we pass on to our children and grandchildren. In living out this principle we are aware of the delicate global interdependence between ecosystems and humanity.

6: The Gospels show a preferential concern for the poor and vulnerable. This is in recognition of the powerlessness that often comes with poverty and vulnerability. The poor must be a major focus of social policy. A basic moral test of any society is how its most vulnerable members are faring. This is not a new insight. It is the lesson of the parable of the Last Judgement (cf Matthew 25). To reject the "option for the poor" is to imitate Dives, the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the beggar lying at his gate. The task which faces us all is to support and endorse policies which are consistent with gospel vision and values, and to challenge those which do not. We look for policies that promote human dignity, stress rights and responsibilities, emphasise the value of work and creativity, protect and care for the creation, and express human compassion.

Four key issues facing Aotearoa New Zealand 1: Child poverty Many New Zealand children lack access to warm homes and nourishing food and are at greater risk of abuse than in many other countries with similar levels of economic wellbeing. Our lack of official child poverty measures, reduction targets, and consistent reporting of progress is of urgent concern.

2: Income inequality High income inequality breaks down the social fabric of society. It erodes trust and reduces social mobility. Inequality is a relational rather than a quantity problem.

3: Lack of affordable and accessible housing Housing affordability is closely aligned with the challenges of poverty and inequality. Unhealthy, overpriced, substandard housing is a reality for an unacceptable proportion of our society. Significant health problems such as rheumatic fever are one of the results of poor housing.

4: Global Warming The environmental impact of global warming on the island nations of the Pacific is significant. We are already seeing, in the face of rising sea levels, the relocation of whole communities. Urgent action is required and, as yet, not being seen.

The question for all of us is that we must practise what we preach?

A Prayer for the Elections God of love,

You give us minds and hearts with which to make

decisions.

Bless these islands as we approach the general

election, help us discern your will for our nation,

give us wisdom and courage to make good

decisions.

Grant that all those who are elected may become

servants of the common good, so that all the people

of this place may live in justice, freedom and in

dignity.

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We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour

who lives and reigns over all nations with you and

the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.

Purongo Blogger The Election season is about to end on the 20th

September some people will be in mourning and

those who will be celebrating after many pamphlets

in letter boxes that have overflowed onto the

streets. Disfigured posters of candidates some

showing a grin on their faces and some have

disappeared forever out of sight out of mind. And

then Television said if you hire me I will cover your

area with a picture of you and the people will sing

how great thou are art once the winner is

announced. The cup will be overflowing until a call

from your leader who will say you have been

faithful to me now let us take our rest for the next

three more years.

The promises are unbelievable just to exercise

power over a large number of the poor. The rich will

be free to escape with tax breaks and the poor will

be imprisoned until next time to hear them sing the

same song (VOTE FOR ME Argentina) and you will

be free forever. Just Vote for a lot that has a social

conscience for the suffering oppressed the poor and

elderly that have given their life and kindness to the

human sacrifices of this country.

May God send us a spiritual message of where to

vote in his name to protect his creation until his

return to release us from captivity and

imprisonment in a World full of distractions and

horror. Go vote now for a life of Peace!

Our Maori have

laboured since

1840 please free

us from bondage!

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori: Says Stop Hunger Now

A Friend of the AIN Recently I met with a group of students at St. Augustine's University in Raleigh, N.C. It's one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, founded by Episcopalians in 1867 to help educate people who had formerly been enslaved. One of the students asked me what my position was on child hunger. I said, "No." "It's wrong." Any society that willingly permits children to go hungry needs to have its head and heart examined. Hunger saps the spirit as well as the body, but it's especially horrible for children, for it destroys and diminishes their growing bodies and brains. Jesus and the prophets are particularly clear about God's intention for creation - the whole garden in which we have been planted is meant to be shared so that all can thrive. If one part of the body is hungry, we're all going to be sick eventually. Deuteronomy challenges us to live in ways that bless the whole body, and encourage its flourishing: 'open your fist, soften your heart, share what you have. Do this and you will indeed know what it is to be blessed!' Jesus is just as clear: 'if you want to be part of the reign of God, get with the program. Feed the hungry, respond to the pain and misery around you, or you will indeed find yourselves in hell - and it is a hell of your own creation!' It's unfair to goats, however, to compare them to miserly human beings. Goats have better instincts about taking responsibility for other members of their herd. Did you hear the psalmist's joyful image of what God has in mind? 'You make the earth plentiful, you soften the ground and bless its increase, you crown the year with goodness and we can see overflowing abundance in your wake.' There is abundance, if it's not hoarded or squandered. And yet there is hunger in each of the communities we call home, there is crippling hunger in our inner cities and rural areas, and on Native American reservations. Many of those places are food deserts, where there is little healthy food available

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within reach of the people who live there - only junk food. (This is so similar to the plight of Maori living in Aoteaora)

CHRISTIANS SEEK DELIVERANCE Christian leaders in Iraq say their faith will be

obliterated in communities as old as the church

itself unless international troops and more air

strikes drive the Islamic State (Isis) from the

country.

Catholics and Anglicans say they have lost

confidence in the Iraqi Government to afford them

any protection after tens of thousands of Christians

were forced to flee their homes on the Nineveh

plains in the face of an Islamic militant advance.

Thousands of Yazidis, members of an ancient sect,

have also fled their homes around the Sinjar

mountains in northern Iraq after Isis gave them an

ultimatum: convert to Islam or die.

“No-one wants another country’s soldiers to enter

their own country, but we live in very bad times,”

said Father Messayr Behnam, of St George’s

Chaldean Church Baghdad. “We want international

forces to protect the villages in Nineveh because

the government doesn’t care about us.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron and United

States President Barack Obama have insisted that

they would not be dragged into another Iraq war,

but they already face allegations of mission creep

for supporting Kurdish and Iraqi troops battling to

retake the strategic Mosul dam.

Members of the Kurdish peshmerga tried to defend

the villages in Nineveh when Isis first advanced, but

residents say they were outgunned.

In Mosul – the modern name for the biblical city of

Nineveh – residents said tens of thousands of Iraqi

security services fled without a fight.

“The government is only worried about elections

and power struggles,” said Behnam, who was born

in Qaraqosh, 25 kilometres southeast of Mosul.

“They are discussing laws in parliament, leaving

people to die in the valleys. They have abandoned

us.”

Although 19 members of his family were forced to

flee their homes, he said they were among the

lucky ones, with shelter in Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s

semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Thousands of refugees had sought shelter in Irbil

while others fled to Lebanon and Turkey, he said. A

few families arrived in Baghdad, but there were

now busy getting passports in case they needed to

move again. “The United Nations should decide

who will protect the valleys,” Behnam said. “Then

people can go home.”

Memories of the US-led invasion were still painfully

fresh in Iraqi and American minds but, without

some sort of international force, he said, the

refugees who fled Nineveh would be too scared to

return. His congregation had fallen from more than

4000 families in 2003 to fewer than 500 now.

At the only Anglican Church in Baghdad, Father Faiz

Bashir Jerjes said the number of worshippers had

fallen from more than 1000 a few months ago to

fewer than 250 at evensong last Sunday.

“It will be a great moment, recorded in history, if

these countries came to support us,” Jerjes said.

“Otherwise we will say goodbye to the last

Christians in Iraq.”

He said Kurdish peshmerga fighters had launched a

counterattack, recapturing a small number of

villages, but it was not enough to lure people back.

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“People are still afraid that they will face a fresh

round of fighting.”

About 15 families in Mosul had converted to Islam

because they had relatives too ill to leave, Jerjes

said. Other Christians were allowed to stay and pay

a religious tax, he said, but not Yazidis.

His colleague, the Rev Canon Andrew White, the

chaplain of St George’d Anglican Church, said

Christians had “no future” in Iraq, and he appealed

to Prime Minister Cameron of England to offer

them asylum.

“Christianity could well be nearly dead and Britain

has refused asylum to any Iraqi, and now we are

desperate. It’s a matter of life and death,” he told

BBC Radio 4. “We need help, not just inside Iraq by

bombing Isis and dropping food – we need that

desperately – but we also need our people to be

given asylum.”

Barham Salih, a former prime minister of Kurdistan,

said the international community would “have to be

engaged in a substantive manner to make sure this

threat is truly eliminated.” However, he added that

the US air strikes around the Mosul dam had

already helped “turn the tide” against the Islamic

militants.

“The lesson of the last month is that people who

thought it was a faraway problem have been

proven wrong,” he said. “We cannot be

indifferent.”

Gerard Russell, the author of Heirs to Forgotten

Kingdoms, about endangered religions in the

Middle East, said both the Yadizis and Christians

had lost faith in the government to protect them.

“The Yazidis want asylum, the Christians want to go

home, but they don’t trust anyone to protect

them,” he said. “The Nineveh plains have never had

this problem before, and that’s why psychologically

it is such a big blow.”

CHURCH TIMES REPORT FROM LONDON

Medics still at risk from Ebola virus Penned in: residents of West Point, a large slum in Monrovia, the

capital of Liberia, who are being held in an Ebola-virus quarantine

area, complain to a security officer as they wait for their relatives to

bring them food and essentials.

THE floating Christian hospital organisation Mercy

Ships has halted its latest visit to West Africa, as a

result of the Ebola-virus outbreak that is affecting

the region. So far, 1552 people are reported to

have been killed by the virus, which began in

Guinea but has spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and

Nigeria. Another outbreak was reported last

weekend in the Congo. On Thursday, the World

Health Organisation warned that the number of

cases could rise to 20,000 (3069 cases have been

reported to date).

The MV Africa Mercy is now docked at the Canary

Islands because it is not equipped for an infectious

epidemic.

"Multi-bed wards and limited isolation facilities,

close proximity to crew accommodation, and dining

for families and children are but a few restraints,"

the founder of the charity, Don Stephens, said. "We

also hire 200 day crew in each port as part of our

training and capacity building for Africa. . . Africa is

and remains our priority, but crew safety drives

every decision."

Nearly ten per cent of those infected with the virus

have been doctors and medical staff treating

victims of the outbreak.

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Pro-Russia rebels target Christians in Ukraine CHURCHES in eastern Ukraine held a joint service

this week to mourn the deaths of four Christians

who were kidnapped in June.

The Senior Bishop of the All-Ukrainian Union of

Evangelical Christian Churches, the Rt Revd

Mikhajlo Panochko, said that pro-Russian militia

stormed the Church of the Transfiguration after the

Pentecost service in June, capturing two deacons,

Volodymyr Velichko and Victor Bradarskoho, as well

as Reuben and Albert Pavenko - two adult children

of the church's pastor, the Revd Alexander Pavenko.

The militia had attempted to capture him, but he

managed to escape with his younger children.

Last week, after the escape of another captured

man, the regional deputy prosecutor, Sergey

Mironenko, it was revealed that the four men had

been charged with "crimes against the Donetsk

People's Republic" - supporting the Ukrainian army

- and had been tortured and killed the day after

they were captured.

"None of us, six months ago, could ever think that

the two provinces of eastern Ukraine would burn

with the terrible flames of war, which consumes

thousands of people, destroying towns and villages,

bringing pain and suffering of so many hearts,"

Bishop Panochko told the Religious Information

Service of the Ukraine.

"The leadership of the Union of Churches of

Evangelical Christians of Ukraine extends its deep

condolences to the families of the innocently killed

brothers, and appeals to all the Christians to

prayerfully support their family in this extremely

difficult time," he said.

Chaplains ready after Malaysian MH17 crash

THE DNA testing on the remains of victims of flight

MH17, which was brought down over eastern

Ukraine, has identified 176 of the 283 victims, the

deputy director of emergency planning for the

Dutch airline KLM, Kees van der Louw, told airport

chaplains at their inter- national conference in

Amsterdam last week.

"That means that a significant number of people are

going to learn that there is nothing to return to

them," he said.

It has been reported that some body parts remain

scattered around the wreckage site in the disputed

Donbas region of Ukraine, and that international

investigators are unable to gain access to the area

because of the ongoing conflict.

The Revd Wina Hordiiijk, a Protestant chaplain at

Schiphol Airport, in Amsterdam, heard about the

disaster on the radio as she drove to her holiday.

“At first it was breaking news that a plane had

crashed in Ukraine,” she said, “and then it was

breaking news that the crashed plane had taken off

from Schiphol”.

She cancelled her holiday plans and returned home

waiting to be called in. Ms Hordiijk is one of three

chaplains employed at Schiphol. She works with

the Revd Nico Sarot, and Old Catholic and Anglican

chaplain and a Roman Catholic Priest.

Within a day, the three chaplains were working

alongside a team of volunteers, providing care and

support for the victims families and airport staff.

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They also supported the many thousands of people

who turned up at the airport to lay flowers and sign

the books of condolence.

By Gavin Drake.

“Horrific violations” seen daily in Iraq

THE continuing struggle to provide food and shelter

for the thousands of Christians and members of

other minority communities sheltering in the

Kurdish-administered region of Iraq is taking place

against the background of increasing Sunni-Shia

tension in Baghdad and other cities. This in turn is

hindering efforts to form a new inclusive

government to tackle the challenges posed by the

Islamic State (IS) jihadists, who control a large area

of the country.

Last Friday, about 70 Sunnis were shot dead at a

mosque near Baquba, 70 miles north-east of the

capital. The assumption was that the attackers

belonged to a Shia militia. On Monday and Tuesday,

dozens of people were killed and wounded in

attacks on Shia targets in the capital and in towns

just to the south of it. In one incident, nine

worshippers in a mosque were killed.

Two representatives of the Sunni community, the

recently elected Speaker of Parliament, Salim al-

Jabouri, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Saleh al-

Mutlak, announced at the weekend the suspension

of their involvement in talks to establish a new

government, in protest at the Baquba mosque

killings. There is widespread agreement in Iraq that

the creation of a cabinet that represents the

interests of the Sunni community is essential, if

Sunnis are to be persuaded to turn against IS. The

Sunnis accused the previous Prime Minister, Nuri al-

Maliki, of discriminating against them.

Any concerted military operation against IS will

have to await the formation of a new government.

But the more pressing concern is providing care for

the hundreds of thousands of displaced Iraqis.

REFLECTION for the followers of Jesus

“Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish

for people” Mark 1:17

We often assume that Jesus’ disciples were great

men of faith from the first time they met Jesus. But

they had to grow in their faith just as all believers

do. Although it took time for Jesus’ call and His

message to get through, the disciples followed. In

the same way, we may question and falter, but we

must never stop following Jesus.

The Editor has the right to make changes to any

publication submitted.

Editor Bishop John Gray

multimediapublishing@xtra.co.nz