Ministry and Outreach to the East Coast Community
The aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle on the Tūranganui-a-Kiwa Gisborne district was devastating. SALT reports on the response to this from the Gisborne Corps (church) and their great team of volunteers
As Ken Maurirere (Ngāti Ira, Kaiputahi) pulls the car up outside the Four Square in Ruatōria on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, there’s a half dozen kaumatua and kuia (Māori elders) sitting outside singing a few hymns and waiata.
They’re from a range of faiths—including Te Ope Whakaora The Salvation Army—and give up their time to help uplift whānau (families) still struggling after the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle nearly two years ago, in February 2023.
On the benches beside them there are a few banana boxes with an assortment of donated clothes, shoes, books and household items, and their smiles and voices can’t help but lift the spirits of anyone passing by.
After a brief kōrero (chat) and catch-up, Ken unloads a pile of kai (food) parcels, is reminded to pick up the flag that got left behind on his last visit, hops in the car and begins the 125km trek back down State Highway 35 to Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (Gisborne).
It’s a trip Ken’s been taking every two weeks for the past three months—although the outreach has been happening for two years—in his volunteer mahi (work) with Gisborne Corps, and he says it’s simply about showing the people who live in remote communities on the East Coast that they have not been forgotten.
‘Realistically, what I’m doing is not even making a dent, but what it is doing is showing that someone outside of here cares,’ he says.
‘I don’t see myself as trying to help people from starving. I’m seeing myself as, really, being the face of The Salvation Army and just showing care, showing someone cares.’
He says when he first started making the trip, people wanted to know what he was doing and why.
‘Initially I was greeted with suspicion, understandably; but of course, once the kōrero about the Sallies comes out then it brings ease to people,’ he says. ‘It’s a win-win because I feel blessed having this opportunity to take the gospel of love and grace to my whanaunga (family connections) and I’m just happy being out in the community.’
Coming home
Ken was born at Tokamaru Bay and grew up in Te Araroa, so he is a true coastie, and, after many years away, returned to the region and found a home at Te Ope Whakaora, along with his wife, Tracey.
‘We’ve been Christians for a long time. But just never felt at home anywhere,’ he says.
Friends suggested they check out The Salvation Army where, Ken says, they witnessed something quite unique.
‘What caught our attention was we saw something we’d never seen before. Because we all know that the pastor or the shepherd protects his pulpit, you can’t just walk into any church and say give me the mic. Well, when we walked into The Salvation Army, Peter [church leader] held out the mic and said, “Whānau, if there’s anything you want to share, here you go”, and then he goes and sits down.
‘I knew straight away that either he’s a crazy man or that’s a very secure man. So that caught our attention, and we decided to join. Getting to know Peter and Jenny, we can see our hearts are going the same way. Peter, he’s got a heart for the people.’
Captain Peter Koia (Ngāti Porou) and his wife Captain Jenny Ratana-Koia (Tuhoe), have been corps officers in Gisborne for nearly three years, and in that time have helped build a following through simply being there and, making space for people, especially in their time of need, which was never more evident than when Cyclone Gabrielle struck.
‘When we first got here, and being post-Covid-19, there were few people attending,’ Peter says. ‘Now we can hit more than 75 on a Sunday morning and at nights we get about 35.’
Aftermath of disaster
In the immediate aftermath of Gabrielle, Peter says they spent weeks feeding as many people as they could, because kai was the number one necessity.
‘I saw kuia and koroua (the elderly) and they were saying, “I just want kai”. They had no pūtea (money) because they couldn’t get to the [money] machines, that broke my heart. The last straw was when they closed the supermarket because there were too many people arguing over kai. So I said to the team, “open it up” and we straight away started cooking meals. We cleaned out our foodbank, and I don’t know how much money we lost but it wasn’t about the money, it is making sure people got kai.’
His team of dedicated kaimahi (workers) and volunteers kept cooking and supplying food parcels for about 12 weeks before Peter began to think about those outside of the immediate Gisborne area.
‘I kept saying it was all right here, but what about our whānau up the coast?’
So they loaded a trailer and hit the road with kai parcels for whoever needed them.
Team work and outreach
‘We were often encouraged by the volunteers, who would willingly take up trailer loads of kai, hygiene items and clothes to hard to reach areas. We just dropped kai off to whānau and kept doing it for as long as we could. But we did our bit and that’s to help get people into the right place, and we continue to do that today.’
Peter takes no credit for the work his team has put in, instead heaping praise on his staff and volunteers.
‘I just fan the flame. My philosophy is don’t tell me, show me, and all these people have shown me. They go out and they do what they do, they’re organising themselves. I just say, “What do you need?” My job is to create the space so they can be all that God has
asked them to be, and you know they serve and that’s all they want to do.’
He’s now set his sights on establishing an outreach in Wairoa in the wake of serious flooding in the town in June last year. ‘It’s the same sort of thing we’ve been doing in Ruatōria, just to keep helping our people. We’ve made a commitment to be there as long as we’re allowed to be there.’
They initially took a trailer load of goods to Wairoa and distributed everything they had to people in need.
‘I’ve never seen that before from an outreach,’ he says. ‘Everything went. Normally you come back with a lot of clothing, but obviously the need is great there because people just grabbed what they needed, so it’s been amazing.’
And while their work is serving a great social need, Ken says there’s always an underlying message of hope and love, and it’s important for people to understand that Te Ope Whakaora is not just a social service, but has a greater mission.
Foundations of faith
‘Our founders’ desire was for us to preach the gospel, to share the gospel, so that’s the kaupapa (principle) of everything we do. I guess in Wairoa we’re at the stage of building a presence and connecting with locals, but the eventual goal is to create a Christian community then share the gospel.’
Along with his outreach mahi, Ken and Tracey also host Sunday services in the old Te Puia Springs pub, and the key theme is always about promoting the love of God. They regularly attract around 20 people to their service. Ken says some have gone to great lengths to attend.
‘There was a 70-year-old lady that had to walk across the river to get to church. She walked across the river from her house to one of the local whānau that had a vehicle, and they brought her to church.
‘So for the people that come, we want the message to be that God loves you. You don’t have to sign up to The Salvation Army, but of course if they want to we don’t have any problems with that. Even in Gisborne, when you go into The Salvation Army, even though you see the officers with the uniform on and everything, when the people are speaking from the front the promotion is the love of God.’
Unusually, Peter often tells his team not to come to church. ‘I tell people to stay away but they keep coming. I said if you come, you come to serve, you don’t come to sit, you’ve come to serve the people out there. And I always point out when I’m preaching that it’s out there, not in here, where the work gets done. This is where we come and freshen up and then get back into it, you know. Come in, get what you need and go and serve the people. And it works.’
