The CNW worship band leads several congregations in worship during the Northwest Church Collective.
An Eventful Summer
From Christmas events in Auckland in early December, to family and church Christmas gatherings in the USA, to summertime events back in New Zealand, the last couple of months certainly have been a bit of a whirlwind. Here are the highlights. Just to live dangerously for a moment, let's start with our most recent events and work backwards...
Church Northwest Kicks Off Worship Services in 2020
After taking a break from the regular routine in order to make space for summertime gatherings, CNW worship services kicked off again last week in our usual gathering place - Te Manawa. It was great to see familiar faces and several new faces in the crowd. Our kids ministry has expanded into three groups for Sunday morning and we're already close to capacity. Please pray for more space for the kids!
Northwest Church Collective
We want to see local churches unite more often because we believe we’re better together and we believe it speaks well to the community around us. That’s exactly what we did on a very warm morning last month. Church Northwest initiated and coordinated the gathering as a way of reaching out to other Jesus followers around us. Everyone agreed it would be great to team up more often so we plan to put on more events like this in northwest Auckland in the future.
Festival One
Our summer tradition of attending the only Christian music festival in New Zealand continued this year, alongside some of our best mates. It was cool to spend some quality time with our church planting compadres, the Taylors, as well. The highlight of the festival was a toss up between Lauren Daigle's first NZ concert and Rapture Ruckus' final concert ever.
Christmas in the USA
As was foreshadowed in our previous update, we got to spend Christmas with family for the first time in 13 years! While the trip was peppered with sickness, an injury, and a conspicuous lack of snow, we did cherish our time together. Nate also took the opportunity to lead worship at three of our supporting churches and update them about the work here in NZ.
Nate and his dad enjoy the best arena ice cream in the SEC at Rupp Arena during the epic UK/Louisville match-up. It was the perfect Christmas gift and a cherished memory for them both.
Christmas with Whitney's family was an event. We loved spending time with this now massive group. Bill and Tami have 12 grandchildren who are all pictured in this rare complete family photograph.
Nate and bother-in-law, Ryan Morrow, enjoyed playing music together at several events during our visit. Here they are playing a Māori song at Worthington Christian Church in Columbus, OH.
Church Plant Funding Update
Our Goal:
$270,000
This amount covers start-up purchases as well as operating costs for the first five years, on a diminishing basis. This does not include our salary or personal ministry expenses.
Current Commitments:
$245,000 (91%)
Family Update
The baby of our family isn't much of a baby anymore. 😭 Finn turned six years old on the 3rd of February. He's enjoying his second year of school now. He's even come to the book-reading-party, following in the footsteps of his older siblings who can't keep their noses out of books these days.
PRAYER REQUESTS / PRAISES
New Families
Praise God that He is bringing new families to Church Northwest. Pray that He'll continue to entrust us with more people and that we'll see people running with our vision of being a church community that helps each other take next steps toward Jesus.
Health Issues
Nate is in need of surgery to correct a hernia, which came about during our trip to the USA. Pray that the surgery is approved and covered by socialised healthcare in NZ. Much more devastating health issues are affecting several of our friends, three of which are young men who all have terminal colorectal cancer. Please pray for healing and for their families to cope with such devastating circumstances.
Elaine Hutchison (Nate's mum)
Please pray for Elaine as she was diagnosed stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma two years ago. Praise God that she's finished most of her clinical trial and is in remission. Please pray that she remains in remission and that her bloodwork numbers improve.
Our Family
Pray for encouraging, positive friendships for all of us. Pray for good health and that we can be a light in our community. Pray for Nate and Whitney to be able to navigate parenting challenges in a godly way as the kids get older (we have two tweens!!).
Unity
One of our core values that we can't afford to lose sight of is our commitment to unity among the church leadership and among all church members. This is what Jesus prayed for for all of us in John 17 that we would be one with each other just like he is one with the Father. We recently watched an excellent teaching series by Andy Stanley based on these verses, and we encourage you all to watch as well (search "Talking Points Andy Stanley" on YouTube, or click here).
Church Plant Progress
Pray that God will stir the hearts of the individuals he's chosen to be involved in Church Northwest. Pray that we follow God's leading and that He will provide the workers, opportunities, and strategies we need for reaping the spiritual harvest in Northwest Auckland.
Financial Partnership
Please pray for our financial partnerships to remain strong, that God will provide for what we need, and that we will be good stewards of what He provides. If you'd like to help, you can donate here.