She’s saved hundreds of families mired in millions of dollars of debt, helped countless more from losing their homes and even assisted those on the verge of committing suicide. It sounds like the recipe for a TV drama, but in happens in a small, nondescript office attached to the Mangere Baptist Church in South Auckland. There, 70-year-old grandmother Vai Matotofai Harris and her team of seven work minor miracles every day at the Vaiola Budgeting...

After 15 years in the wilderness, this year Dunedin City Baptist will start building its new permanent home. Originally called Hanover Street Baptist Church, it was the city’s first Baptist church. The previous building was completed in 1912 and now has a New Zealand Historic Places Trust Category 1 rating.

I was given a Kindle e-reader for my birthday late last year, and since then have been sourcing the free (A History of American Christianity, Bacon), the very cheap (NIV Bible for US$1.99) and the very reasonable (the above for US$9.99), all purchased with one touch and almost instantly downloaded. So expect the odd e-reader review this year, although most are also available in hard copy.

One family’s tradition of service is working its way out in overseas mission In a recent edition of World Reach, the Resource Corner talked about ways to communicate with mission folk overseas.

The outlook we often have as Christians is that we have all the answers for our communities. I don’t like it; it creates an “us and them” kind of thing. And I realise that Maori have heard the gospel over and over, from outreach teams, to mission organisations to crusades. But with Maori communities, the gospel has to come with a posture of humility, servanthood and consistency.