Way Maker

When William Tauranga (Ngāti Porou) moved to Kaitāia seeking a fresh start, he discovered more than a change of scenery—he found a deeper walk with God. He shares how his connections with the Far North (Kaitāia) Corps (church) have reshaped his life, bringing healing, hope and a renewed sense of purpose.

Kia ora, my name is William Tauranga. I’m originally from Gisborne and I whakapapa to Ngāti Porou—which means Ruatoria on the East Coast all along State Highway 35. I’m 44 years old and a father of four children, who all reside in Hastings.

Last year, I moved to Kaitāia to be with my partner, and my life has completely changed. I’d been living in Tauranga when we first met and when we decided to give the relationship a shot, I moved up here to Kaitāia. That’s when I decided it was time for me to change my lifestyle. I never thought I would ever make the decision to get help and change for the better, but I knew as soon as I got here, that’s what I needed to do. My kids deserved better than a dad who was drunk all the time. I’ve been clean the
whole time I’ve lived in Kaitāia. I love it here and don’t ever want to leave!

I was just 14 years old when I started drinking. I was brought up in a whānau where our home life was ruled by alcohol, so it had a huge impact on my upbringing. I struggled with addiction for over 30 years before I realised there had to be more to life than my days just revolving around getting alcohol and drugs. I woke up one Sunday and I said enough is enough and signed up for The Salvation Army Bridge programme. I’ve graduated three times—so that’s three lots of eight weeks—so that I could stay on
track with my recovery journey.

Now that I have graduated from the Bridge, I sit in on the programme to be an inspiration to the participants. I help them see that it’s a good thing to get clean and sort out your addiction. That’s my main thing now: being a role model. I’m careful about staying away from things that are triggering, because my number one focus is still on myself and staying clean while I work on my own life goals. I still have one-on-one assistance from the team at the Bridge if I need it, because you have to sort out your own issues before pointing the finger at anyone else.

I’ve always believed in God and had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but I never thought that I would ever take the step of actually walking into a church. When I came to Kaitāia, I felt it was the right place for me to start my journey because I realised pretty quickly that there were a lot of things that could lead me off track in my recovery here. So that was why I tried The Salvation Army. I’ve been with the corps for 18 months now.

Six months ago, I signed up as an adherent of the Far North (Kaitāia) Corps. That was such a blessing for me to have the opportunity to publicly give myself to the Lord and stand up for Him. Ever since then I’ve felt right at home and I’ve loved every minute of being part of the corps. I love the people of Kaitāia—the whole community—especially the people of the Far North (Kaitāia) Corps.

I’ve had a lot of support with my recovery from the corps, and the facilitators of the Kaitaia Bridge programme have also been a huge support to me. I also have our local officers, Lieutenants Mosese and Amelia Kava, who have been the biggest support on my journey. From day one, they have never judged me but accepted me for who I am. They’re the main ones within the corps who inspire me. They’ve helped me in a lot of ways, including supporting my family.

Jesus has a made such a big difference in my life. I was someone who never prayed but now I pray every day. I ask Jesus’ blessing on the day and His blessing on my whānau and friends. I never thought that by coming to Kaitāia any of this would happen. But now I love it all so much—my new life, Kaitāia, the corps—all of it.

I’m really thankful to God for what he’s done, so I’m involved as a volunteer for Community Ministries. I help in the foodbank and around the Family Store—just whatever is needed. I love being out in the community helping people, whether that’s delivering food or giving my time to help clean up someone’s yard, even looking after our old people. These are things that have really touched me and now I just love doing them. And it keeps me busy, which supports my recovery.

My favourite song is ‘Way Maker’ by Sinach because it’s all about what God has done for me: ‘Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who You are.’ That’s my testimony of who Jesus is and what He means to me.