February 1994
HASTINGS 10:30am, 7pm
We appreciate the interim ministries of Lloyd Crawford and student pastor Ed Karlsen. Colin and Julie Crocker are eagerly awaited, from Ranui. Participants benefited from a Quiet Day with God prayer retreat. Vicky and Alan Taplin have stepped down from youth leadership. A successful church family barbecue at Stoney Creek Ranch, despite a casualty on the confidence course. We have taken on responsibility for Flaxmere church. A combined celebration service was enjoyed by all.
April 1994
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STEVEN TRIM Third year, Hastings Church, married to Maryanne, children; Julia, Keri, Siobhan, Chloe.
HASTINGS Rev Colin Crocker 10:30am, 7pm
Day of prayer for the church in February. Year of the Family was celebrated with a combined church picnic. Colin and Julie Crocker were inducted. Gordon Mill bought a practical message as we start a new phase in the church. Harry and Norma Callister retire from 10 years as church cleaning supervisors. "Light and Tasty", a group for new Christians and seekers has begun. We celebrated the engagement of Heather Hunt missionary in Nepal, with a ladies evening.
June 1994
HASTINGS Rev Colin Crocker 10:30am, 7pm
The food bank is in demand. Flaxmere Action Group meets regularly. 20's-40's pot luck dinner bridged the gap in a fun evening. Quiet Day with God attendees were blessed. Home groups discussed Acts 2:42-47 and reported their findings to the Elders. Jan Plaisted is now the Day Care Centre's acting supervisor. "Guess who's coming for lunch" was enjoyed by those involved. Rachel Malton and her band won Best Band at the YFC Talent Quest. A Day of Prayer was held.
August 1994
HASTINGS Rev Colin Crocker 10:30am, 7pm
Heather and Peter Millais were re-commissioned for service in Nepal (Interserve). We enjoyed giving them a send-off in the form of a second wedding reception two weeks after the real thing. Sunday School children demonstrated with placards and banners in favour of mothers during the Mothers Day family service. The Halders and Osbornes visited. People of all ages from our church joined in the March for Jesus.
September 1994
Creative BWM Retreat
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A Journaling workshop - Addy Coles, Valda Donaldson and Margaret Douglas
A creative prayer retreat, involving women from Palmerston North to Gisborne, was held recently at Stoney Creek Ranch near Hastings. The Rev Patricia Preest led the weekend, which included workshops on journaling, prayer and healing, prayer and movement, and prayer and creativity.
During a Celebration of Prayer on Saturday, participants brought pictures painted, clay modelled, and poems written or spoken to the foot of a large rough-timbered cross, draped in soft cloth. Said reporter Ida Bewley: "We pray that the Baptist Women's Ministries retreats still to be held will be a powerful blessing to many."
October 1994
Life Needn't Be Hopeless
By Mark Irwin, volunteer youth leader at Hastings Baptist
A glance at New Zealand's unemployment figures reveals that there is little hope for today's teenagers. Currently 142,000 people are without work, and the figures are even more depressing for teenagers. To the year ended March 1993, 22.2 percent of people aged 15 to 19 were unemployed.
Unemployment is an issue we all need to be aware of. It's not just an issue for teenagers, or their parents or youth leaders. It's an issue for the whole church. We all have a responsibility to address the hopelessness that unemployment spawns.
Teenagers have their own ways of addressing this issue. Suicide has been one answer. In 1991, New Zealand's suicide rate for 15- to 19-year-olds was 15.7 per 100,000 people - an increase of almost 300 percent since 1971. However, there are other less drastic ways of dealing with this hopelessness.
Crime is one such way. A significant proportion of people involved in crime today are teenagers.
Forty-six percent of all criminal offenders are 21 or younger. Many young people spend their early life behind bars, and 11 percent of all prison inmates are under 20. Graffiti and other antisocial behaviour are also responses to a feeling of hopelessness.
Perverting the God-given gift of sex is another way teenagers have of dealing with feelings of despair. Sexual promiscuity is seen as the norm in modern society. In a recent study of 18-year-olds, 58 percent of men and 68 percent of women were reported as having been sexually active. To fit in, many teens feel they need to experiment sexually, since being accepted by one's peers helps to dispel hopelessness.
Not all teenagers are reacting in the ways outlined, but a significant proportion of them are. The church needs to be aware of how teenagers feel, and of the ways they deal with their feelings. Being judgmental about these ideas will not help. We need to be caring and respond as Jesus would have responded.
Jesus gave hope to the hopeless. He didn't condemn people for their sin. Rather, he pointed the sinner to the one who could forgive. In John Chapter 8 we read that he did not condemn the adulterous woman but told her to go on her way and sin no more. He gave her hope.
Teenagers need to know what God's standards are, but they should not be condemned when they fail to meet those standards. Just as Jesus did, we must give teenagers the chance to repent and live as God intended.
Giving them role models is also important. Teens need to see God's values at work in the lives of adults within the church, for it is only when these values are apparent in our lives that others will follow.
Teenagers need to know that God is a God of hope in all circumstances. Even under the spectre of unemployment there is hope.
HASTINGS Rev Colin Crocker 10:30am, 7pm
Preparations have begun to move into Cell Groups. A Friday morning sale raised $710 for missions. We enjoyed having our Carey College student Steve Trim and family home in the holidays. Midwinter Christmas Dinner was good fun, good company and good food, challenging us to remember the real meaning of Christmas. Several continue to serve at Mangaroa Prison in reading skills programmes and Sunday services.
December 1994
HASTINGS Rev Colin Crocker 10:30am, 7pm
The BWM Prayer Retreat enthused ladies with creative ways of listening to God. A Celebration Service praised God for his gifts to us. Examples and symbols of gifts were laid at the foot of the cross. Rachael Malton will join the YFC Rock Solid Roadshow '95. "Encounters with Christ" series ended with people sharing their modern day encounters. "Saturday at 8" occurs monthly to pray for our church. Ed and Linda Karlsen's return to our pastoral team excites us.