Christian Commentary Encouraging Devotions

Bob Sinclair, senior pastor of the Taumarunui Baptist Church in the central North Island, says community transformation also comes through "consistent, long-haul, never giving up, believing prayer".

Over the past few years, he says, there has been considerable change for the good in Taumarunui and concerted prayer by all the churches in the town has resulted in crime reduction in the region.

"Our crime rate continues to decrease," he says. For instance one particular street, renowned for violence and family conflict, had a real heaviness about it.

The church’s prayer teams started praying both from the church and on location. They also held a number of fun events in the area and over time there has been a considerable change in the street.

"We have always tried to be a praying church and 18 months ago we set up a prayer house as part of it. This then shifted to the main business area and is now interdenominational."

The house is open for 18 hours a day, seven days a week, with people from each church in the town participating.

"We sïgn up during the Sunday service. A clipboard is handed around and you then receive a note early in the week confirming your prayer times," says Mr Sinclair.

People can also sign up for the early hours of the morning and although it is harder to get up at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning to pray, Mr Sinclair points out that these hours are significant in prayer.

The church, which started off with eight to 10 believers before it was constituted as a church in the Baptist Union in 1974 with some 30 members, now has between 140 and 170 people attending its Sunday services.

Backed by prayer, church members are actively involved in their community through a variety of outreach events.

"We believe we are to pastor not just a church congregation but the whole community," says Mr Sinclair.

"As a church we try and keep the good name of the Lord ever before our community."

At its youth service on Wednesday nights, more than half of the 80 to 130 youngsters who attend are from non-churched families.

Every second Friday evening 50 to 80 children aged 8 to 10 regularly attend a junior service. A bus is available for those who need transport.

During summer the church often hosts free barbecues at different parks for young people and runs radio advertisements or mail drops to inform everyone where the event is. Children are given flyers to take home to their parents.

"There are often little opportunities to share the Gospel with the kids at the outreaches. This doesn’t happen in a formal sense. It sort of occurs naturally as we keep our eyes open for the opportunities."

Mr Sinclair, with the help of others in the church leads a service at Avolea rest-home on the first Sunday of each month.

A few years ago the rest-home was struggling for money and the whole community, including Taumarunui Baptist, got in behind it, managing to raise $200,000 in three years.

"Its a great blessing to be able to minister to our older people in the community," says Mr Sinclair.

A committed team of men and women also run Mainly Music once a week for parents and preschool children to interact to music and song.

"Mainly Music is a ripper. We have about 30 parents and 45 kids attending and the place is abuzz on a Thursday mornings. We are also about to start a Kids Wise parenting course with some of the parents from the programme, 80 per cent of whom will be unchurched."

The church is also mission-focused and has a team of 15, including adults and young people, in the Philippines, ministering at a youth camp and helping in a number of rural churches for three weeks.

"These people will come back changed for the better, with a far wider worldview and God view."

The church’s youth pastor and his wife have taken a team every second year for the past six or seven years. About 30 church members attend the Fire School twice a week, where there is a strong emphasis on missions teaching and training.

By Lavinia Ngatoko in Challenge Weekly, New Zealand

Special to ASSIST News Service