Most people tend to ‘tisk tisk’ criminal behaviour and lean towards blaming a dysfunctional family background for a life of crime. It’s true that statistically there are usually definite components identified in the criminal profile:- single mother parenting, being a child of an offender, being from a poverty background, physical and sexual abuse….to name a few.

The temptation is to leave it for someone else to clean up. “They should lock them up, and throw away the key!” is a pretty normal response to criminals living in a kiwi culture. The trouble is that it is our problem, because it all affects our society and our children’s and grandchildren’s futures. What or who is the answer to this rising problem? We believe the answer lies in Christ and in his body.

There has never been a better time to be part of prison ministry. Some inmates come to the end of themselves in prison, and are ready to hear a message of hope. Others have never heard of the unconditional love of God and the good news of Jesus Christ. (And of course, just as in any group of people there are some that won’t want a bar of it.) 85% of prison volunteers are from the Christian pool in this country, so we already contributing a lot, but still there are many gaps for more teams to go into the Springhill and Mt Eden Correction Facilities on Sunday mornings to take services.

A church service might be an hour long, and could involve: praise and worship, prayer, a testimony, a bible reading, an encouraging word and a short easy to understand balanced gospel message. Full training and prison protocols are taught before going in.

It’s exciting and interesting to meet and work within a team that is interdenominational…everyone can have something to contribute.

We are also working to support inmates being released and would love to hear from individuals and churches who are interested in becoming involved with the aftercare for inmates released into their communities.  Again full training is given.

Jesus said, “I was in prison and you came to visit me… Lord when did we see you in prison and visit you? …whenever you did it for the least of my brothers you did it for me.” Matthew 25 v 31 – 46

If you are interested in finding out more, or would like to join a ministry team please get in touch with Sue Croad at sue.croad@pfnz.org.nz  or check out our website www.pfnz.org.nz

Sue Croad
Committee member

I was invited to work with a team made up of Evangelists and Bible Teachers from USA, England and Africa on a Mission project organised by African Evangelistic Enterprise and Lausanne Movement, working with the local churches in the city of Rubavu. About 280 Evangelists and Pastors attended the School Of Evangelism for four days. At the end of the Training each day there were 20-25 teams of Evangelists and Pastors that went out on outreaches throughout the city and the surrounding towns. I was with a team of 7 other Evangelists working together with the local churches in the area.

Crowds ranged from 350 to 2500 people gathered at every open air meeting to hear the gospel preached. A huge number of people responded at every meeting. Many of them were counselled and led to Christ by the Christians from the  churches. On record, there were at least 75,000 people who heard the gospel preached and more than 11,000 people were counselled for salvation or for other needs. In some of the meetings people came forward while the preaching was still happening. They knelt and cried to the LORD for mercy.

It was a privilege and blessing to be there and play a role in training Evangelists and Pastors and work with them in the outreaches. Rwanda is a country that is ‘white and ready for harvest’. A military leader said this to me at a leaders meeting, “the answer for Rwanda is not military, it is not political, it is Jesus Christ. The Christians in Rwanda must preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Please come again and help Train our people to preach the Gospel effectively.”  

Please continue to pray for the Christians in Rwanda.

Robert Siakimotu
OAC Ministries International
NZ Association of Evangelists Chairman

It was an exciting time.  Greg gave an outstanding message focusing on how to reach the culture/s in which we are in/meet, communicating effectively to them.

Other people also contributed to the days training, including those from Greg Laurie’s “G3” team.

We had a good time during the outreach with many hearing the gospel for the first time, many of those with an evangelistic heart took an active part in this for the first time.  We thank God for the many good opportunities there were to preach the gospel and share Jesus with others.

Graeme, a local Kiwi, has been passionately devoted to bringing the gospel to the people of New Zealand. For ten years he’s been in fervent prayer and preparations for the Auckland Harvest. He was confident in God’s plans, saying “I knew 2011 was God’s year for Auckland, and He proved that last night and He will show us again tonight.” Graeme speaks of the packed house at the Vector Arena, followed by a full floor of hundreds coming to Christ. It is clear to Graeme, and to the city of Auckland, that change is coming!

Graeme has been involved in the crusades since the 2002 rally in Auckland. He has been praying for church involvement and an eagerness in the people to bring a Harvest to this city. He attended the Christchurch Harvest in 2006, and the Wellington Harvest in 2007, all the while in prayer for God to move in Auckland. It is clear that Graeme has a heart for the people of New Zealand.

When asked what his hopes are for the city after the Harvest weekend is over, Graeme’s reply was, “This is just the beginning!” He hopes for a revival in New Zealand as a result of the Auckland Harvest, praying that the good news of Jesus would spread throughout this country, igniting a fire in the hearts of the Kiwis. God is moving in the Vector Arena this weekend, and we know He will continue to move across this city!

It’s 4:00 A.M. in Auckland, New Zealand. The sun has yet to rise on the Monday following the Greater Auckland Harvest, held Saturday and Sunday in this city’s largest indoor venue, Vector Arena.

Outside the window of my high-rise hotel, five red lights have been blinking all night long. They are aircraft warning lights that sit atop various buildings in this city, each blinking at various speeds. As these silent sentries pulse away, a curious thing occurs. For several beats they all synchronize in time, and for a few moments those five lights pulse as one. Then, just as quickly, they fall back into their individual patterns.

It reminds me of what has just occurred in this city over the weekend. More than 200 churches, individual lights to a nation, came together under the banner of the gospel and for two short nights, their hearts beat as one. The pulse of the gospel shone bright. The Vector arena overflowed both nights, more than 20,000 came in synchronized time, and from their ranks, 2,777 responded to the preaching of the gospel by Greg Laurie. More than 3,500 bibles were given out to people, eager to know more about Jesus, eager to have the hope that comes through a relationship with Him.

My mind is still processing what we’ve just witnessed. I stood on the stage Sunday night looking out at the throng of people who came forward during the invitation to receive Christ. I looked into the eyes of people from all backgrounds and ethnicities…Korean, Japanese, Maori, Samoan, Fijian, Tongan, Indian, Chinese…standing shoulder to shoulder with white-faced kids and businessmen. Some had tears, some wore smiles, most just came looking for hope. One grouping of four Samoan youth—most likely three brothers and little sister—stood in the center, arms around each other, eyes closed in prayer.

These are the images that stoke the fire of evangelism in my heart, and in the hearts of the Harvest Team.

It’s been almost ten years since I first came to this place and spoke to a handful of leaders who envisioned that God could break through the secular noise of this fast growing, beautiful city. Could it really happen? They dared to dream, to pray, to seek God’s face.

And finally it happened. Two hundred lights beat as one, the message of God’s love was heard above the din of the city and people were saved. Local pastors told me it was historic, that they had not witnessed such a unified coalition of believers in more than forty years. There is a sense of thanksgiving in their voices, and a hope that maybe bigger things are yet to come. But for now, they move on, moving to their own rhythm, eager to tap out the beat of the gospel in their own churches, hopefully stronger and hopefully as lights that shine a little brighter.

While involved in outreach before the Harvest Event in Auckland a man I spoke to in the street on Friday said he was wanting to go to look at a pair of shoes and for some “now known” reason, he walked in the opposite direction and we bumped into each other!

The long and short of it is that he went to both meetings at the Vector Arena and got right with God, i.e. he understood what repentance is all about and was prepared to turn away and walk in a new direction.  Ruth and I spoke to him tonight on the phone and he is born again, after realising that his life is different than before.  Yahoo! Praise the Lord.  He is looking at going along to Church Unlimited to get connected.  He has Christian friends, who I suppose have been helpful in his new found faith in God but he did say that the questions I asked him about sin – lies, theft, lust  etc – really made a difference in coming to Christ for the right reasons.

On the Sunday afternoon, right up until half an hour before the start of the event, we invited people in the street with the few hand-outs we had left. Two guys just happened to be walking along the street and ended up committing their lives to the Lord at the event after I mentioned that you come to Christ for a right life, not a better life and they were prepared to accept it on those terms.  Only time will tell as these guys were about 17 years old.  Blessings for the Harvest Alan Bate.

The main thrust of what OAC does
around the world is still open air evangelism, children’s evangelism in and out of the schools, camps and training others in Evangelism. We also have regular opportunities to minister on board the ships and in the prisons, also running orphanages and sewing schools (India). Approximately 6,000 to 8,000 people every week are being reached with the gospel through the different ministries that OAC has around the world. OAC Evangelists are also taking the gospel to some of the unreached people in countries like Kenya, Brazil (north), some of the former Soviet countries and India. Many people have come to faith in Jesus Christ as they hear the gospel preached by our OAC Evangelist.

The other main thrust of what OAC does is ‘training other Christians’ in Evangelism. In the past 24-48 months so many Christians in South East Asia, Europe, US, South Pacific, Mexico, South Africa and etc were trained in Evangelism and given simple and basic tools on how to share the gospel and lead a soul to CHRIST and were released to do it. Many of these people today are actively sharing the gospel where GOD has planted them. A good example of this is the Evangelism Training I did with the Anglican Churches in East Malaysia nearly a year ago. Today, the leaders and members from these churches are still going out to the malls and streets sharing the gospel with many people. A good number of people have come to faith in Christ fairly recently and are now part of the church there. Right now as I write this article our Evangelist in Mexico is training the Christians in one of the church in the city of Guadalajara. A good number of the members from the church are
doing open air evangelism and personal evangelism including the senior pastor. I met the senior pastor of the same church recently and he told me that their church is growing because many people are led to Christ by the members of his church that OAC Evangelist trained. Our Evangelists in Fiji are training volunteers on Children’s Evangelism and how to run Children’s Clubs and now a number of the Children’s clubs have started in different communities especially in the western part of Fiji. The great news is that the parents of some of the children also attend these clubs to watch and listen to what our Evangelists and volunteers are teaching their children. Some of them recently had come to faith in Christ and are now attending church. Praise the LORD.

Our School of Evangelism is the only school of it’s kind that is specifically dedicated to train and equip and release the Evangelist in our country and in the South Pacific. We recognised the important role that the Evangelist in the church of GOD in NZ. (Eph.4:10-12) This is the reason why we continue to run the SOE every year. To identify the Evangelists and Equip them to ‘do the work of an Evangelist’ working alongside the local church. To know more about the SOE please contact Jeremy on jem@oac.org.nz or Lew on lew@oac.org.nz.

One of the best way that OAC is helping the church to reach people with the gospel is the ‘resources’ that we produced in the past few years and these resources are very simple to use and very relevant to today’s generations and they are very transferable to suit any particular situation. They are inexpensive but above all, they are CHRIST centred and life related. These resources can be purchased from our OAC branches in NZ and Australia and even in the US. For more details please contact robert.siakimotu@oaci.org

I continue to pray and trust that GOD’S gracious hand (Neh.2: be upon all the Staff and Volunteers within OAC as they continue to reach the lost with the gospel and work together with the local churches to disciple them.

Thank you and GOD bless.

Robert Siakimotu

OAC Ministries International

We Love the Gospel of God

As disciples of Jesus, we are gospel people. The core of our identity is our passion for the biblical good news of the saving work of God through Jesus Christ. We are united by our experience of the grace of God in the gospel and by our motivation to make that gospel of grace known to the ends of the earth by every possible means.

A)    We love the good news in a world of bad news. The gospel addresses the dire effects of human sin, failure and need. Human beings rebelled against God, rejected God’s authority and disobeyed God’s Word. In this sinful state, we are alienated from God, from one another and from the created order. Sin deserves God’s condemnation. Those who refuse to repent and ‘do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ will be punished with eternal destruction and shut out from the presence of God.’ [35] The effects of sin and the power of evil have corrupted every dimension of human personhood (spiritual, physical, intellectual and relational). They have permeated cultural, economic, social, political and religious life through all cultures and all generations of history. They have caused incalculable misery to the human race and damage to God’s creation. Against this bleak background, the biblical gospel is indeed very good news.

B)   We love the story the gospel tells. The gospel announces as good news the historical events of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. As the son of David, the promised Messiah King, Jesus is the one through whom alone God established his kingdom and acted for the salvation of the world, enabling all nations on earth to be blessed, as he promised Abraham. Paul defines the gospel in stating that ‘Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, according the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve.’ The gospel declares that, on the cross of Christ, God took upon himself, in the person of his Son and in our place, the judgment our sin deserves. In the same great saving act, completed, vindicated and declared through the resurrection, God won the decisive victory over Satan, death and all evil powers, liberated us from their power and fear, and ensured their eventual destruction. God accomplished the reconciliation of believers with himself and with one another across all boundaries and enmities. God also accomplished his purpose of the ultimate reconciliation of all creation, and in the bodily resurrection of Jesus has given us the first fruits of the new creation. ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.’ [36] How we love the gospel story!

C)   We love the assurance the gospel brings. Solely through trusting in Christ alone, we are united with Christ through the Holy Spirit and are counted righteous in Christ before God. Being justified by faith we have peace with God and no longer face condemnation. We receive the forgiveness of our sins. We are born again into a living hope by sharing Christ’s risen life. We are adopted as fellow heirs with Christ. We become citizens of God’s covenant people, members of God’s family and the place of God’s dwelling. So by trusting in Christ, we have full assurance of salvation and eternal life, for our salvation ultimately depends, not on ourselves, but on the work of Christ and the promise of God. ‘Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’[37] How we love the gospel’s promise!

D)    We love the transformation the gospel produces. The gospel is God’s life-transforming power at work in the world. ‘It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.’[38] Faith alone is the means by which the blessings and assurance of the gospel are received. Saving faith however never remains alone, but necessarily shows itself in obedience. Christian obedience is ‘faith expressing itself through love.’ [39] We are not saved by good works, but having been saved by grace alone we are ‘created in Christ Jesus to do good works.’[40] ‘Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.’[41] Paul saw the ethical transformation that the gospel produces as the work of God’s grace – grace which achieved our salvation at Christ’s first coming, and grace that teaches us to live ethically in the light of his second coming.[42] For Paul, ‘obeying the gospel’ meant both trusting in grace, and then being taught by grace.[43] Paul’s missional goal was to bring about ‘the obedience of faith’ among all nations.[44] This strongly covenantal language recalls Abraham. Abraham believed God’s promise, which was credited to him as righteousness, and then obeyed God’s command in demonstration of his faith. ‘By faith Abraham…obeyed.’[45] Repentance and faith in Jesus Christ are the first acts of obedience the gospel calls for; ongoing obedience to God’s commands is the way of life that gospel faith enables, through the sanctifying Holy Spirit.[46] Obedience is thus the living proof of saving faith and the living fruit of it. Obedience is also the test of our love for Jesus. ‘Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.’[47] ‘We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.’[48] How we love the gospel’s power!

To view the full document you can go to http://www.lausanne.org/ctcommitment#p1-8

It was 1981 when I, and about a dozen other budding evangelists, spent 6 weeks together under Gerald Bradley, the undisputed king of one-liners.
I often reflect that they were the best 6 weeks of my life. It was then Open Air Campaigners. It was training. It was experience. It was humour. It was out in action for Jesus with like-minded guys. And it was something no church or other organisation offered. It wasn’t till 3 years of youth pastoring, three years with Scripture union and a couple of years of other stuff that I joined the ranks of the Ready-For-Anything boys…. the sketch-boarders.
The great mandate of the church is “MAKE DISCIPLES” and preaching is part of that. I wanted my hundred-fold increase so I figured that as God probably uses about 10 people in each conversion at various stages of the journey, then I needed to be involved as part of a team in the conversion of about 1000 people.
OAC exists for two reasons. To reach the lost for Jesus, and to equip the church to do the same. Is there a higher calling? As some oft-quoted evangelist once said… ” If God has called you to be an evangelist, don’t lower yourself to be a king.”
OAC now has branches in Auckland, Hamilton, Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin… and we are working on the Bay of Plenty.
And by the way, if you can get to Hastings between Feb and April and do a week module or two, or six, you will be a better evangelist.

Robert M Siakimotu-Chairman

For the glory of the LORD of the Harvest…

‘In my personal conviction the formation of the New Zealand Association Of Evangelist is timely and long due. The Association is now formed after the conference that was held in Ngaruwahia Christian Camp in August this year. The Vision and Focus of the Association can be summarised in three words, Equip, Encourage and Encounter. Under the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit we would like to recognise the importance of the office of the Evangelist as it mentioned in Eph.4: 10-11. The Evangelist as well as the Apostle, Prophet and Pastor-Teacher is GOD’S gift to the Church. With this in mind the Association’s primary role is to recognise and encourage the Evangelists within the Church of GOD in NZ. The best way that we do that within the context of the Association is to Equip our Evangelists in the church/es so that they can be able to also equip others for the works of ministry. The Association will also Encourage our Evangelist is NZ especially those who are members of the Association by meeting together and working together on missions, conferences and outreaches around the country or outside NZ. The Association will also seek to provide an opportunity for our Evangelists to Encounter GOD’S blessings and fruitfulness where GOD has planted them especially in the context of their local church/es.

It is my prayer and hope that more Evangelists will be raised, called and empowered by GOD today and the future and thrust them out into His harvest field.