The YWAM hospital ship ‘Koha’ is moored at the end of Queens Wharf from 22 Apr – 15 May. While they are in port, the ship will be open for public viewing at certain times. You can find all the information you need about tours here. Why not go and have a look around and see what they get up to!
Markus has had some setbacks over the last week and ended up needing surgery to have his colon cleared out. Please pray specifically for:
Markus for his bowel function to return
Karyn - for strength and peace as she is really struggling through this rollercoaster of a journey with Markus
Mike as he works full time and looks after the other 2 boys
Jayden and Zeke as they navigate this whole time
There are still 3 spots on the meal roster if you’d like to support them in that way
Markus is coming up to 1 year of being in hospital and we are so grateful for what the many and varied things the people in our church are doing to support the Bain family - thank you for being the Church and loving one another in this way!
There is a meal roster to support them with meals during the week and dates for May have just been added. Please sign up via the link if this is a way you’d like to support them.
As always we have packed a lot into the first term of the year. We had a small little break early on in gathering together as we jumped into Alert Level 2. But all in all we have enjoyed better consistency. This has been obvious in the relationship building within our programmes.
Within Term One we celebrated Easter Sunday altogether. Such an incredible time walking through God’s story from creation
As a wider church community we also farewelled Nick and Sarah Field from their role as Senior Pastors. Such a legacy they leave as over their 24 years of leadership at The Street they have consistently lifted Jesus high, pointed us to the Word of God and encouraged us to worship with our whole lives. We look forward to all God has in store for us in this new season. Enjoy catching up with what the Children’s and Youth Ministries have been up to over these past 10 weeks.
Mainly music this term has seen lots of new faces, which has been exciting to see! We love it when groups of mums and bubs find us and bring their friends along too; such an awesome way to build community. We have just finished our special lead up to Easter, where we read the story of Jesus each week, and finished this week with an Easter egg hunt. As a team, we are praying for the seeds that have been sown, that they would begin to grow, and families would desire to know who Jesus is. Please be praying with us!
What a fabulous start to 2021 in the Pre School programmes. We have had settled programmes with lots of fun and such an awesome team of leaders investing each week.
Our 1-2’s programme has had several new team members join us. The team is working well together and creating wonderful opportunities for children to build trust and belonging within the Kids Zone ministry. We have made some environmental changes which has been a positive experience and we are continuing to assess other changes needed to best serve this group with the ever growing group size!
The 3-4’s programme is a smaller group for this half of the year and this has facilitated children, leaders and families to spend more time getting to know each other and engaging in meaningful interactions. The team continues to go above and beyond as they creatively and energetically teach the children four key truths. God loves me, I can love Jesus, God created me and I can love others. Look out for some changes to the welcome process as children arrive that will be implemented from the start of term Two.
Our school-aged children have gone back to basics for term one in Kids Zone. The first half of the term was devoted to exploring prayer, how and why we do it, and looking at great examples of people praying in the Bible. The second half of the term focused on God’s Word, with bottom lines such as I Know My Bible and How To Use It and The Word of God Is A Powerful Tool For My Everyday Life. Two of our five core values as a church are Prayerful and Bible-based, so it’s great that we can be instilling the importance of God’s Word and Prayer at such a young age.
We almost got through the term without a lockdown, but not quite! Thankfully, because we had decided to retain pre-recorded teaching during Alert Level 1, transitioning back to Kids Zone Online was a breeze. Pre-recorded teaching has a few bonuses, including resilience when transitioning between alert levels, consistent education across programmes, and parents and team members’ ability to engage with the teaching content before and after the Sunday. Jump onto the partnering Facebook page and check out the teaching for Sunday so you’re equipped to have a rich conversation with your young person about what they learnt that day.
In Squad we had a great term with fun times in the Life Centre in homes. One of our best nights was the epic Nerf Battle, which is pretty much just chaos with nerf guns. We also have slowly been introducing worship by occasionally bringing the Squad youth in to The Massive for worship.
Coming up in term 2 we will be having our epic Laser Tag night and will give you more details early in term. Coming up 24-26 September we will be taking our Squad youth to iCamp. Be watching facebook and email for more details.
And lastly we would like to create a security team for Squad. We would need 2 people each night to help watch the front doors and keep track of who is coming and going. Currently our Squad leaders do this but it would be helpful to be able to free them up to be interacting with the Squad youth. If this is something you are interested please contact Matt.
We've just finished up a great term with a theme called misfits. We worked our way through 1 Peter and explored "What does it look like to truly live as Christ-followers in a world and culture where we are ‘misfits’?"
One of our biggest highlights of the term was Easter Camp. Although the weather wasn't amazing our time together and with God was. Many of our youth commented on how they truly felt like they were part of a safe community where they could be open and vulnerable. They also spoke about fresh encounters they had with God.
Coming up in Term 2 we will be having our epic Laser Tag night. We will be posting details in email and on Facebook early on in the term. Coming at the end of term 3, 1-4 October will be Camp Massive. Be on the look out for more details in term 2!
Our children are facing some big things in the world today. As a church community, we would love to help equip parents with a practical, relational and discipleship response.
You are invited to come together to begin a discussion around Technology, Sexual Integrity, Gender Identity and Anxiety.
WHEN: Monday 17th May
WHERE: 9 Hania Street, Main Auditorium
TIME: 7-9pm
For more information, email families@thestreet.org.nz
We are the Church! It takes every single one of us to joyfully and sacrificially serve with the gifts and talents that God has given us to make the body function. Our Kids Zone team across all programmes needs 30 new team members.
Join the Kids Zone team and be part of investing in the future faith of children (yours and others) in an intentional and practical way. Full training and ongoing support is provided, and a police vet check is required.
Check-In for all Kids Zone Sunday morning programmes is at the Kids Zone Hub in the foyer from 8:45 am. All children, regardless of what time you arrive, need to be checked in for safety reasons. If the Hub has closed, please check-in at the programme room for your child.
Preschool children can head straight up to their programmes, or if you choose to have them in the main auditorium with you, please ensure they are in the preschool rooms NO LATER than 9:20 am. This helps with the smooth running of the programmes for all children.
School-Aged children start in the main auditorium and head over to their programmes in the Life Centre at the service leader’s direction.
If your child does not end up attending a programme, they need to be checked out. A leader will come looking for them if they are recorded as attending but not present when the roll call is done.
In line with the Ministry of Education regulations for Early Childhood Centres, we are no longer using hard rice crackers in the Preschool programmes. These will be replaced with a wheat-based cracker. If you have any questions or do not want your child to have these crackers, please let us know.
Our door is always open and we love to hear from you and how we can best support you as you raise your children to know and love the Lord. We are keen to pray for you by name and the specific things that are going on for your family. Never hesitate to be in touch! We love you and look forward to this next year together.
Here is an update from Karyn on Markus’s progress. Let’s keep praying!
“Nine months ago I took this little guy to the GP after a night of vomiting. Never would I have imagined what was to come. But we can celebrate some significant milestones in the last few weeks. His gut function has returned. It is a long way from perfect but he no longer requires IV nutrition and tolerates feed via a NG tube. (A huge thank you to all those who ‘prayed for poo!’). His next big step will be to relearn how to swallow and return to eating. He also no longer has a catheter! This is a big win for his confidence and mobility. And, as a bonus today, we have another surprise removal of his Hickman line. So Markus will be off to theatre again as a precaution to halt a repeat infection.
It is amazing to sense this journey coming to a conclusion, especially as a few of these significant medical interventions are removed. But with that comes the tension between celebration and what is yet still unknown.
Our precious boy, you continue to inspire us all... Perhaps, we will get home for good soon.”
We believe with all of our hearts that the church is not a building but the people. And the church is not only the adults but it is every person of every age who follows Jesus. We want to take 2 weeks in every school holidays to experience a service with all ages, all together; “all-in”!
So on 18th and 25th April we will still begin with morning tea at 9:45, but then our services will be 1 hour long, and we will worship together, learn from the Bible together, and we’ll also use these weeks to hear some stories of what God is doing in the lives of some of the younger members of our church.
Kairos is a course that will positively impact your worldview and all that you do to align you with God's heart for a lost world.
This is what one of the participants of the last course said:
“I have learnt so much about God's mission for the church and His heart for different peoples and cultures. Through this course, God has changed my focus and set my heart on fire to know Him, both here in NZ and overseas.”
It runs for 8 weeks and starts on Thursday 6th May, 7-9.15pm in The Life Centre, 21 Hania Street, Mount Vic. The cost for attending is $70. You will find leaflets on the table at the back of the Sunday service or you can email missions@thestreet.org.nz for more information or to register.
Our next Kairos course runs for 8 Thursdays during May and June, starting 6th May, 7- 9:15 pm at the Life Centre. It also includes one Saturday morning, 19th June. The cost is $70. Register through the website or missions@thestreet.org.nz
Testimonial: “A fantastic course to clarify what our mission is as Christians whether you are interested in overseas missions or not. A chance to grow, learn be encouraged and spurred on.”
Happy Easter! Bless you as we celebrate and remember our saviour Jesus Christ who died and rose again for you and me. We pray that this Easter weekend you would experience the love of God in a fresh and profound way. HE IS RISEN - hallelujah!
On Sunday, 21 March, we dedicated our morning services to honouring and commissioning our Senior Pastors of 24 years as they step out to launch a nationwide disciple-making movement called The Way. More information is available at www.theway.co.nz.
On Sunday, 28 March, we commissioned our senior pastors of 24 years as they step out to launch a nationwide disciple-making movement called The Way. More information is available at www.theway.co.nz
City did the same thing the previous week, so if you missed it at East, you may want to check out this video. Be praying for Nick and Sarah as they step out in faith in this way!
You may remember that over the summer we made lunches for Strathmore Community Centre to give to the children that attended their free holiday programme. By the 3rd week they had 30 kids attending each session and they were so grateful for the lunches we were able to provide.
They’ve asked us to do it again! If you’d like to find out more about helping with this please email east@thestreet.org.nz or talk to Jenny.
Can you sew? Would you like to make some flags?
As you know, we spend the first part of our service each week with the kids and adults all in together. We want to get better at worshipping together where both kids and adults are engaged and every person is encouraged to participate and actively bring their worship to God.
When we worshipped at Gateway Baptist during the summer, I (Jenny) noticed how much the kids loved the flags and so I thought we’d give it a try! If you would like to help by making some please get in touch - east@thestreet.org.nz
This Sunday 28 March at St Michael’s Anglican Church, 81 Upland Rd, Kelburn 5.30-7pm.
If you have a heart for helping former refugees settle and feel welcomed to New Zealand, then head along to St Michael's Anglican Church this Sunday evening to hear how you can get involved.
Easter Sunday is the absolute pinnacle of the Christian calendar and worth celebrating, but why? What is it about Easter that is such good news? Join us for hot cross buns, worship and a journey through the story of grace that God has been telling from beginning to end. Why not think about inviting someone along?
Kids Zone will also have a programme running on Easter Sunday.
We are now part way through our sermon series in James called “Faith that works” which we started on 14 March. James is a book about real faith for real people. A book that shows it’s no good simply holding to a set of theoretical beliefs - James demands that faith must be put to work. Drawing from Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount and driving the same themes home with vivid pictures, the challenge of James is not understanding what it says but putting it into practice.
This Sunday 7 March we will be broadcasting an online service live at 10am - there will be no usual large gatherings at City, East or Night. While there is uncertainty over which Alert Level Wellington will be in, we have made the decision early to give clarity. It means we can prepare well for Sunday and means you know what your Sunday morning will look like.
For us that means East at Home. This is where you can register to attend someone’s home where you’ll enjoy some food and community, watch the online service and find spaces for Kids Zone as well. We’ll wrap up our We Are The Church series with the final metaphor: The Temple.
Register here to attend on Sunday https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/east-at-home-7-march-2021-tickets-143905524297
We are so grateful for the progress Markus Bain is making and that he was able to be transferred from Starship Hospital down to Wellington. He is however still very sick so please continue to pray for his healing. Karyn and Markus are in Wellington hospital and Mike continues to look after the other 2 boys at home.
One practical thing we can do to help them is to provide meals. If you could help with this, please sign up at the following link. All the info you need about how much to make, dietary requirements and how to drop off are on the link.
This is such a great way to bless these guys as they continue on this hard road with Markus.
The Miramar Central School programme runs two sessions
Tuesday 9am -10.30am
Wednesdays 9am - 10.30am.
Volunteers arrive a little before 9am to meet Gillian (Kitchen & Garden) and get organised before the session starts. Gillian will let you know about any plans she has for the day and will give direction as to what tasks she would like you to do with a group of students. Gillian would appreciate help on either day.
The Holy Cross School programme runs two sessions (one after the other)
Tuesday 9.05am - 10.35am,
Tuesday 11am - 12.30pm
Volunteers arrive a little before 9am or 11am to meet Olivia (Garden) & Aleksandra (Kitchen) and get organised before the session starts. Olivia & Aleksandra will let you know the day before about the recipe of the day and any plans in the garden. They will give direction as to what tasks they would like you to do with a small group of students. When it is wet/cold - the gardening class happens indoors. We love for our volunteers to stay and share the food and converse with the students at the end of each session. The children tidy up/do the dishes at the end of each session. We are very happy for volunteers to choose either session.
If you’re interested in any of these please contact Olivia Boyd on 021 022 95948
Christians Against Poverty is an amazing organisation that we partner with to run a Debt Centre which enables us to help people who are living in unmanageable debt. A support worker is the person who joins the Debt Coach on visits to the client and then stays in contact with them to support them through their journey. This gives us the opportunity to bring them along to community dinners or to church, or whatever other opportunity arises. There are currently 6 CAP clients in our local area all of whom have support workers that live all around Wellington. We would love every CAP client in our area to have a local support worker. Please email Jenny to find out more if you’re interested. jenny.gill@thestreet.org.nz
