Long Road Leads to Wairarapa for New Officers

It’s a long way from the nightclubs of New Plymouth to the Wairarapa, but it’s a journey that’s been the making of newly commissioned Salvation Army officers Nikola and Ashton Vaitaki.

Nikola and Ashton Vaitaki graduated from Booth College of Mission in December and moved to Masterton before starting their new roles on January 9. They’ve been married for 12 years, have five children and are looking forward to whatever God has planned for them.

The couple met when Ashton—who grew up in the South Taranaki town of Hawera—was out with friends in New Plymouth, and Nikola was visiting the city. ‘One weekend we were in New Plymouth and we went out and I saw Ashton there,’ he says.

And she saw him. ‘When you’re from Taranaki, you know everyone, and then we see this group of out of towners,’ she says. The couple hit it off and started a relationship, despite living in different cities.

At the time, Ashton, who has Tongan whakapapa, had little involvement in the Church, despite her Baptist upbringing. ‘I grew up just going every Sunday,’ she says. ‘But when I was about 12, and had just given my heart to the Lord, my mum got diagnosed with MS and in my little 12-year-old mind I couldn’t work out how that could happen, how God could let that happen.’

She also turned her back on a difficult childhood. ‘I was raised by a solo mum, and she was raised by a solo mum. They were strong, but it was just full of abuse and addictions and real dysfunction, and I didn’t know how to understand it all or deal with it. So I left home, left school, started living, flatting, working, drinking, doing drugs, all of that, and then I met this guy.’

Making changes

They married fairly quickly, and a pregnant Ashton moved to Auckland, where they initially attended the Tongan Methodist Church. That Nikola was attending a Methodist church was a change in itself, having been brought up Catholic in Tonga. ‘I was very strongly Catholic. In Tonga my dad is a choirmaster, so they are very strict Catholics,’ he says. He came to Aotearoa in 2002 and decided to make a future here.

But it wasn’t smooth sailing for the young couple, and Ashton says moving to Auckland was tough, with her struggles as a new mum bringing back painful memories. ‘We’d got married and had two babies in one year and that just brought up everything,’ she says. ‘I didn’t really know how to be a healthy mum or how to care for these two beautiful babies. And I didn’t know how to be a wife; I was really messed up,’ she says.

Things didn’t start to change until she came home one morning feeling worse for wear after a night of partying and found Nikola calmly cooking breakfast. ‘I felt that disappointment,’ she says.

He told her that something had to change, and she assumed the worst—that he was about to leave—but he said they were going to go to The Salvation Army.

‘At the time I didn’t know what was worse, him leaving me or having to go to church,’ she says. ‘I’d only been to The Salvation Army one other time and that was when I had to do my community service hours there in New Plymouth.’

The Army that brings life

It was the first church where it felt like someone actually cared about them as people, she says. ‘I could feel it, and we both agreed that we had found a home in The Salvation Army.’

After initially attending Westgate Corps, they moved to Manukau Central Corps and became stalwarts in the church. ‘We loved it there,’ Ashton says. ‘It still took me two years before I gave my heart to the Lord. He took me on a massive healing journey and showed me what real love is, and what real community is,’ she says.

That community played an important role in her healing, while Nikola faced his own challenges, leaving the Methodist Church and then leaving a well-paid job to work for The Salvation Army. ‘It was a challenge to knock at the door of my pastor and tell him I’m moving churches, but in my mind, this is my church now and I feel I have a calling in this church,’ he says.

At the time he was earning a good income, but when he was offered the job of running The Salvation Army food warehouse in Auckland—less money and longer hours—he took the plunge. ‘It was tough, but even though I logged more hours for The Salvation Army, our family was so happy.’ 

Things were also on the improve for Ashton, who began doing part-time admin work at their corps as a way of slowly re-entering the workforce. ‘I had really bad anxiety, but being around this group of God-fearing people every day, that just gave me the space for God to do his work on me.’

It didn’t take long for Nikola to become a soldier, and Ashton joined him a few months later after seeing God’s plan for her. ‘I felt that people only became soldiers if they were going to be an officer, and I never thought officership would be for me. But God revealed to me that soldiership is a step for me into officership,’ she says.

They were encouraged to take that step by their corps officers and after discussing it with the then-Territorial Candidates Secretary Major Kylie Tong. ‘She just straight out asked us, “has God been talking to you guys about officership?” Two months later we were here (at Booth College of Mission) for our assessment weekend, and then two months after that we were at college,’ Ashton says.

Building in Wairarapa

And two years later, they’re embarking on their first appointment as officers in an area they always felt good about, with Nikola sensing the presence of God in the Wairarapa. ‘The last time I went there, I talked to people and felt that in my heart I can build relationships here. I don’t have to go there with a mission, we’ll just start by having conversations with people to build relationships and then see whatever comes of that.’

For Ashton, it’s as much about learning what has gone before, before introducing anything new. ‘A part of our being appointed there is that we are replanting what mission looks like through The Salvation Army. But we can’t replant unless we know what has gone on before. We feel in our spirit there’s a bit of healing that needs to happen, so it’s taking a step back and learning about what has happened. If God chooses to use us as a part of some healing and reconciliation, we will see what it is that God will use us to do.’

In the two months since the couple moved to Masterton, that’s exactly what they’ve done, and they couldn’t be happier. ‘Even though we’re just settling in, we love it here. We came in with the intention of just getting to know people and that’s been cool,’ Ashton says.

They were welcomed with a pōwhiri by one of the local iwi, Rangitāne o Wairarapa, and Ashton says it was
a wonderful experience. ‘It was just a beautiful morning. A lot of the corps whānau came too, which was cool because that’s just a little baby step for us in the journey.’

‘It’s becoming a real beautiful relationship. We’re really happy that it began that way,’ Ashton says. Nikola says that relationship with Rangitāne o Wairarapa helps him feel comfortable in their new home. ‘I shared with them that coming here, I felt like I was standing on one foot. I needed to walk with two feet and if I didn’t connect with the iwi, I didn’t feel like I belonged. I now feel like I’m part of the Wairarapa community; it’s been better than we could ever have imagined,’ he says.

Ashton says everything they have achieved so far has just come naturally, rather than from any preconceived plan. ‘We just wait on the Lord and see what the Lord wants for this community, and where he is already at work in the community,’ Ashton says. ‘That’s really important.’

Boots on the ground

They began attending weekly community karakia sessions, which helped them learn and share with the community. ‘It’s held at a different organisation every Wednesday, and that’s been a really nice connection point, just to have fellowship with people from different organisations in the community. You share where you’re from and if you have any notices or announcements.’

One group was seeking office space to use, and they are now inviting community groups to book empty office space in the new corps complex. Nikola has also taken a more hands-on approach, setting up a Boots on the Ground men’s ministry, which helps people struggling with jobs around the home.

‘Someone put a call out that they needed help with their garden, so I went and cut their hedge and did their rubbish, and the idea came to me that we should use our men, because they wanted to do practical things in the community. I suggested we go out and help people who have physical or health problems. Take their rubbish to the dump, do their garden, that sort of stuff.’ Ashton says it’s been a great way to share their love of the Lord.

‘The men in our corps, they’re mostly retired but they’re all real hands-on, practical men. They’re keen to get out there and do some water blasting, some gardening. It’s been an amazing way to shine the light of Jesus in the community, and to have opportunities to pray for people and to serve them in this way.’

Every job finishes with a prayer, Nikola says. ‘When they open their heart for us to pray at the end of the job, this is what we’re looking for. We just love doing it and we can see the appreciation from the community.’

From an initial congregation of about a dozen, there’s now close to 40 people attending each week, but they take no credit for that. ‘That’s got nothing to do with us, the Lord’s bringing these people in. This is also the fruit and the vision of the corps here, how they’ve journeyed and how they’ve prayed and how they’ve stayed committed to the Wairarapa Corps through these years of this building project. The “OGs” (originals) of the corps have been so excited for this next season of growth and fruitfulness for Wairarapa through The Salvation Army. We’re really looking forward to the next few months.’

Which just goes to show that sometimes it takes a long journey to find your way home.