Travel Journal From New Zealand

By Jim Franks

Monday, April 7, 2014, Jeff Caudle, Sharron and I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. We enjoyed our stay in Fiji immensely! What a beautiful country! But more than the physical beauty, we enjoyed the spiritual warmth and fellowship that we discovered in the Fijian brethren. It was interesting that even though we were meeting them for the first time, they knew us! These days they depend on webcasts for their services, and prior to that they watched DVDs sent from the U.S. or New Zealand. These contained sermons that were given by several of the ministers from the headquarters office in Allen. So, they feel as though they know us!

After arriving in Auckland, we spent the night in a hotel near the airport because of a flight delay. We had hoped to continue our journey from Auckland to Napier, where we were scheduled to meet up with Art and Sari Verschoor and André and Elize van Belkum. However, we missed the connection and had to wait for the next flight on Tuesday morning. Flying is always a challenge. One flight delay can cause serious issues when you have a tight travel schedule.

Napier, New Zealand

We arrived in Napier around noon on Tuesday, April 8. We spent the day visiting with the Verschoors and the Van Belkums in Art and Sari’s beautiful home. Napier is a lovely city that’s about a six-hour drive from Auckland, but only a one-hour flight. When I realized that New Zealand really doesn’t have any interstate highways, I was happy that we had flown.

In the afternoon we drove the short distance into the lovely town of Napier. We had lunch in the center of the city at a private club, called the Hawke’s Bay Club, where Art is a member. In fact, just a few years ago Art was actually the president of this club, which is quite a prestigious position. The club itself was founded in 1863 while New Zealand was under British rule. One of the first things the British did was establish these types of clubs throughout their empire. You will find them scattered about from London to Singapore to Australia to Hong Kong to New Zealand, and many places in between. They serve food and drink to their members in addition to providing them a place to spend the night. It was a delightful experience.

Lake Taupo Feast site

On Wednesday we drove to Lake Taupo, where the Feast of Tabernacles will be held this year. What a lovely city it is! The drive through the countryside revealed beautiful scenery. It is difficult not to fall in love with New Zealand when you see the beauty all around you. Of course, in addition to the natural beauty, wherever you look you see sheep—hundreds and thousands of sheep! I was told that New Zealand is a country of 4 million people and 50 million sheep! Based on our 90-minute drive over the mountains from Napier to Taupo, I would say that this is true.

The Feast of Tabernacles has been in this general area for many years going back to the days of the Worldwide Church of God. In the 1970s more than 1,000 people gathered for the Feast of Tabernacles in Rotorua, which is in this same general area. This year we are hopeful there will be between 70 and 100 in attendance.

Traveling with ministers, I learned a lot about New Zealand and the history of the Church of God. The first services were held in 1967, even though there were baptized members in New Zealand beginning in about 1964. These members had to travel to Australia for the Passover and holy days. This was during the time of the Radio Church of God. Eventually New Zealand grew to have more than 1,000 members, seven pastors and numerous congregations spread from the north to the south.

Interviews

On Wednesday evening, I interviewed Art, André and Jeff on their experiences in the ministry, especially as they relate to New Zealand. I asked each of them to tell me his story—how he came into the Church. I also asked them to describe the work of the Church in New Zealand over the past 50 years and to explain to me what they considered to be the greatest challenges going forward. I will be showing these interviews on In Accord in the near future.

All three of them mentioned the scattered nature of the brethren as the greatest challenge facing the Church at this time. How do we take care of so many people in such scattered locations? Travel isn’t easy, and it is expensive. One thing we can do is to make the most efficient use of technology. But at the end of the day, technology cannot replace a pastor on the scene to serve and interact with the brethren. It is essential that, as much as we possibly can, we provide pastors for God’s people no matter where they live. It is a challenge, but one that we must resolve as time goes on.

I am reminded of the scripture in Matthew 9:36 where Christ was moved with compassion because the people were like sheep scattered without a shepherd. There is a special relationship between a true shepherd (minister, pastor) and the people of God. Christ saw the need for the people of His day to have a shepherd, a spiritual leader, and I believe it is just as critical in our day.

Art Verschoor serves as an elder in New Zealand and has been in the Church since 1974.

André van Belkum is well known for his many years of service in South Africa. He was baptized more than 50 years ago and has been in the ministry since the early 1970s. It is hard to believe that he and Elize have now been in New Zealand for five years. Recently they were awarded temporary residency, which is one of the many steps that ultimately lead to citizenship. Completing this step has made their lives much easier.

Jeff Caudle, the office manager and pastor of the congregations in the Pacific region, was with us in Napier and Taupo. He returned to Auckland on Wednesday evening, April 9, in order to make final preparations for the Passover. Jeff will be leaving Saturday night for Singapore, where he will be conducting the Passover service for the brethren in that area. André and I will be conducting Passover services in Auckland. We will webcast the services from Auckland to Fiji.

Tomorrow will be another busy day as we fly back to Auckland. This will allow us some time to prepare for the Sabbath, the Passover and the first day of Unleavened Bread, which are all coming up in quick succession. My next journal entry will be from Auckland.

From Napier, New Zealand,

Jim Franks