Karori
Pastor Mike Enright
We have appreciated two guest speakers, Ben Wong from Cell Church Missions Network in February, and Jude Simion from Barnabas Fund in April. We are being challenged by a sermon series based on Tom Wright’s book Surprised by Hope. In March we farewelled Robert Gilmour for four weeks as he helped do some much needed electrical work at a school in Bangladesh.

We had a newcomers’ lunch in March and in April enjoyed a special lunch for the KBC community. The women have continued to meet on a monthly basis for an informal catch up at a local café on Friday evenings. They also met in May for a women’s breakfast. Alpha began in term 2.

Wellington Central
Co-pastors Darren Ayling and Andrew Bollen 
The newly formed Family Groups plan their own activities and get-togethers on a monthly basis, a great way to get to know people across the age spectrum socially. In March a family camp was held at Forest Lakes. The weather was perfect. Andrew and Xanthia Bollen are also wardens at Central House, which caters to up to 30 students and young workers. A highlight at present is the proposed trip to Asia by our youth group to visit Central members working in the region. Fundraising efforts are very creative with events including auctions, waffle breakfast, and a finest curry competition. Paul Thompson from BANZAid spoke on the current projects in PNG and Bangladesh that are helping to transform communities. We enjoyed having Zena back from working in Asia for a few months and farewelled Zoe as she began her mission overseas. Our eldest member, Don Cowan, recently became a centenarian. Our thoughts and prayers continue with the Osborne family on the death of dear Hope after a courageous battle with cancer.

Upper Hutt
Chris Finlay and Paul Thompson
After much anticipation and hard work we have opened our new wing – hall, lounge and kitchen facilities. The extra space on the same side of the road as the church is proving a real blessing to the various groups who use our premises. A good number of younger folk travelled to Parachute and Easter Camp. The fellowship group is well patronised on Wednesday mornings. Our BMF group hosted a combined meeting in March when Graeme and Christine Taylor visited us. Our church joined with seven other Upper Hutt congregations at Easter for combined meetings on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, where we were all blessed by the messages by Geoff Smith from Auckland.  

Blenheim
It was good to have Malcolm and Wendy Taylor back for a short time from Living Waters Orphanage in Borneo. We sent a great gift of toys, clothing, shoes and socks back with them. Twenty-two men gathered at a local funeral premises for pizza and an explanatory tour of the facility, with the challenge: From here to eternity, are you ready? Our youth joined with Nelson and Atawhai for a youth leadership training day on May 19 with speaker Johanna Vannathy from Wellington. April messages focused on evangelism and discipling, followed in May by a series on Philippians. We are fortunate to have a great team of preachers. Sunday July 1 is to be Harvest Day, with the theme “Generosity.”