Update: 11/3/2011  Message from Craig Gillis President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Churches:
All churches will be open with following exceptions:

• Aranui church who will be worshipping in a church member’s home (contact Allan Matthies for information on 039807401)
• St Martins church who will be worshipping in a church member’s home (contact Pr Mel Trevena for information on 0274498763)
• Filippino company who will be worshipping in the Papanui Adventist church hall
• Garden City Fellowship will be in a new venue: 442 Tuam street, the C3 Church Venue

ADRA Aranui Oasis Cafe:
The Cafe is proving to be very popular in the Aranui community with hundreds of people each day dropping by for a meal, cuppa, chat, water, supplies, encouragement ....
The site is now officially recognized as a Resource Information Kiosk (RIK) on the Christchurch City Council website. Authorities have expressed their appreciation to us for what we are offering to this hard-hit community.
In the last three days we have given out 642 meals!
Over 50 volunteers are enabling this ministry to be a success – thank you to all!

Craig Gillis
President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Update: 4/3/2011  Message from Craig Gillis President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

The church members of SNZC are all working together with their communities, local church membership and the ADRA Emergency Response Team (ERT) in many varied ways. I will take this short moment of your time to update you on the work of the ADRA ERT.

The ADRA ERT has been skilfully led by Team Leader Victoria Fray, ADRA NZ International Programme Manager, assisted by Evan Fray, National Programmes Manager, Ashleigh Plimmer PROGRAM COORDINATOR, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Australia, and myself. Apart from providing food and water to the Civil Defence Emergency Centres, and working in co-ordination with other NGOs, very early on the ERT identified a need in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch to set up a safe refuge for meals, food, water and a compassionate listening ear to residents of this devastated suburb. Despite the fact that Aranui Adventist church has been declared unsafe for use at this point, we were still able to setup on the Aranui site. Funding was sort, and willingly granted from the South Pacific Division for a two month project. This has allowed us to employ a project co-ordinator, Jacqui Freeman, and a logistics manager, Phillip Paget, both of whom are church members of SNZC. In addition we have a long list of volunteers who are giving countless hours of their time and energy to serve the people in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. They are doing everything from: preparing meals in the mobile ADRA kitchen (loaned from Nelson); to baking goodies at home; to filling 10 litre water bladders and sharing them out; to building shelters; to driving a "shower bus" from the eastern suburbs out to Pascoe Park (SNZC Campground) so these folk who have not seen running water for the past ten days can have a wash; to giving out of food and clothing; to entertaining the children with paint facing and ballooning; and perhaps most importantly, just sitting down with the people who have come in for a meal and befriending them, listening to them and encouraging them.

Since commencing operations on the Aranui Church site, literally hundreds of people have come along to enjoy the hospitality and friendship that our volunteers have offered ... and the word is spreading! The Police, water truck drivers and many others are also stopping by!

Indeed, God is able to bring good out of even the worst of circumstances! (Rom. 8:28)

A huge "Thank you" from SNZC to all who are contributing, and in particular to Victoria Fray and Evan Fray, our ADRA New Zealand team who have been with us since the day after the quake!

Craig Gillis
President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Update: 28/2/2011  Message from Craig Gillis President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Those of our SNZC membership who have not been able to return to their place of work or school, have been out volunteering in many different ways throughout today as we continue the recovery of the Tuesday 22nd February 6.3 magnitude earthquake which to date has taken 148 precious lives with many more still buried beneath rubble.

Today, our people are voluntarily doing everything from driving trucks for Red Cross, manning water stations, delivering water and food, digging away silt from streets and homes, removing furniture from damaged houses, providing meals for our ADRA folk, cleaning up in and around our churches .... and the list goes on. Here in the office today we have been answering calls for help and looking for volunteers to fill the calls.

You may be interested to also know that we have offered our main meeting room in the Conference office for several NGO's that do not have/or have lost their offices in the city. The NGO's include Tear Fund, World Vision, and Christian World Service.

ADRA personnel are doing an awesome job – together we have identified the eastern suburbs as an area of great need. With the approval and support of the Salvation Army, we will be setting up the Nelson ADRA food van at the Aranui church site on Pages Road. This will allow for a gathering place for the community to come for food, water and companionship.

I am incredibly proud of the positive attitude and servant oriented hearts of our people here in Christchurch, young and old.

Please continue to keep us all in your prayers,

Your friend in Christ,

Craig Gillis
President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Update: 25/2/2011 Message from Craig Gillis President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

At this point of time, undoubtedly like you, I am feeling absolutely shattered as the outcomes of Tuesday's Christchurch earthquake becomes more evident. The death toll is climbing, hundreds of people are missing, tens of thousands are in a state of distress, as readily accessible access to the basic necessities of food, water and shelter, are stretched.

Please let me briefly inform you what the Adventist Church is attempting to do to help in this crisis:

• Members have been involved with visiting and helping their neighbours, and commencing clean-up in their own streets.
• The Conference is working with ADRA and Sanitarium as we move from a focus of rescue to recovery.
• Sanitarium site in Papanui acted as a triage centre. It is now also a distribution centre for water, food and other basic necessities
• Sanitarium has been providing breakfast for hundreds of people each morning at the various emergency shelters
• We are holding a Trauma Recovery Seminar at Bishopdale ADRA room this morning with a specialist in this area, who helped in the aftermath of the Chile earthquake.
• We have been trying to inspect all of our churches, preschools and school – Initial reports seem that all only have minor structural damage, while St Martins, St Albans and Aranui have also suffered from liquefaction.
• I have had no reports of any of our members being seriously injured – thought there have been many stories of near misses.
• Nelson Church are providing their ADRA food van.
• Mt Hutt youth camp has been filled with students who wanted/needed to get out of the city
• Our Pascoe Park Motels have now all been occupied by those effected. We have also offered to erect tents to New Zealand Housing if needed.

Of course individually every member is doing a great deal more.

How do I encourage us all at this time of trajedy, loss and uncertainty? I share the below psalm that, says it all ....

Psalm 46

1. God is our refuge and strength,an ever-present help in trouble.
2. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3. though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
4. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

You are all in my prayers.
 
Your friend in Christ,

Craig Gillis
President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Message from North New Zealand Conference Lead Pastor - 23 February 2011

Dear North New Zealand Conference Family,

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

As our nation absorbs the reality of the devastation that took place in Christchurch this week, I pray that God will be with you and give you strength. In particular, I wish to convey sincere sympathies and prayers to those in our conference who are from the Canterbury region.

Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters who meet and serve at the churches, school, administration office, campground and Sanitarium, in Christchurch.

We have received reports that the churches have sustained minor structural damages, but are able to be worshipped in on Sabbath.

In your church services this Sabbath I encourage you to pray for Pastor Craig Gillis (conference president), his wife Kim and their family. Their home has sustained significant damage. I suggest that you also please consider a time of silence in honour of those who have lost their lives.

I urge each church to please take up an extra offering as soon as possible to assist the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) with their relief efforts. The team lead by Victoria Fray has been in operation with immediate relief efforts, since early this morning from the Sanitarium site in Christchurch.

You can receive updates and leave messages on our conference website www.nnzc.org.nz or Facebook page. You can also give donations immediately to ADRA at www.adra.org.nz. Thank you once again for stepping up in a time of need.

"The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." Psalm 46:11

May God bless you with His perfect peace.

Pr. Eddie Tupa'i
Lead Pastor, North New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Update: 23 February 2011, 9:22am

All staff (teachers, pastors, Bible workers, office staff, Sanitarium staff) seem to be all accounted for and in good physical health – though all are emotionally shaken.

Some of our churches have received what appears to be minor structure damage, with St Martins Church being effected internally by liquefaction (coming up through the heating ducts).

At this stage I have had no reports of any members injured seriously – though there are some who have had their homes seriously damaged.

Our CFO was in the city at the time of the quake and narrowly escaped being crushed by falling buildings.

We are in the process of setting up two distribution centres with food and water in partnership with ADRA and Sanitarium.

Just heading out now to survey all church buildings.

I will continue to keep you updated.

Craig Gillis
President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church

Update:22 February 2011, 2:41pm

At this time it is difficult to get much information about what has happened due to communication channels being blocked/overloaded.

Our office staff are all fine. Christchurch Adventist School teachers and staff are fine, as are our preschools. Obviously, all are very shaken emotionally though. There has been some major damage to the city with fatalities. At this stage, I have not had reports that any fatalities are church members.

Facilities have been affected.

I am about to head back to my home to survey the damage.

Please pray for us.

Your friend in Christ

Craig Gillis
President, South New Zealand Conference Seventh-day Adventist Church