Old Relationships Made New

Feb 7, 2023 | News

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Te Hauoter­angi (Howard) and Gladys Karaka serve as Māori Evan­gel­ists with Te Pīho­patanga o te Manawa o te Wheke in the Port Waikato area. The Māori Evan­gel­ist ini­ti­at­ive was an invit­a­tion for NZCMS to renew the old rela­tion­ships the first CMS mis­sion­ar­ies had with Māori in the 19th century. Howard was the first ‘new’ evan­gel­ist to partner with NZCMS in 2018, and his wife Gladys has recently joined him in this ministry.

In Decem­ber 2022, Howard and Gladys came to the NZCMS office with a taonga (gift). They wanted to give NZCMS some­thing that rep­res­en­ted this part­ner­ship and rela­tion­ship that has been formed between two people that had been divided; a ‘tying together’ of Te Puaha o Waikato (Port Waikato) and NZCMS.

Intend­ing to give a taonga to NZCMS, Howard went to one of the ladies in his con­greg­a­tion and asked her to make some­thing for us. Her name is Rereoke Shaw. He explained what he wanted the gift to rep­res­ent, this part­ner­ship, and she sug­ges­ted she hand make a Korowai (feathered cloak). This took her months to com­plete as she inten­tion­ally and pray­er­fully chose each element of the Korowai and hand-sewed them together.

“The korowai is very sacred to Māori,” Howard said. “It represents love, peace, unity and restoration. This Korowai represents the broken relationship being restored by God between NZCMS and the people of Te Puaha O Waikato, as we truly stand in unity.

 

“I believe God is bringing healing to Tangata Whenua and Pakeha. This gift represents this healing between two peoples. It represents the act of God putting NZCMS and Māori back together again. That we are now made one people, covered together by the love and presence of God.”

New Zealand Church Missionary Society
Our National Dir­ector, Rosie Fyfe, pic­tured wearing the Korowai with Howard and Gladys Karaka. 

We have a vision to partner with ten full time Māori Evan­gel­ists across New Zealand. Learn how you can support Māori Evangelism.

5 Comments
  1. Pamela McKenzie

    The Korowai looks beau­ti­ful and is a special Koha and symbol.
    A great vision for CMS to work towards.

    Reply
  2. Beryl

    Fant­astic reconciliation

    Reply
  3. BERYL ANDERSON

    Fant­astic reconciliation

    Reply
  4. James Muir - Te Kohinga Reconciliation Network

    Kia ora Rosie and NZCMS, On 25th June we will again com­mem­or­ate the anniversary of CMS mis­sion­ary Henry Wil­li­ams first preach­ing the gospel of peace to Taur­anga Moana Maori at Pilot Bay, Mt Maunganui on 25th June 1826. Your pre­de­cessor Steve Maina joined us for a special com­mem­or­a­tion on 25th June 2014 and now we look ahead to the 200 year remem­brance in 2026.
    While a res­tor­at­ive and recon­cili­ation process is under­way with Taur­anga Moana Maori and the Anglican Church fol­low­ing the betrayal over land — our prayer is that the gospel of the Kingdom will again be preached by Maori and Pakeha evangelists.

    Reply
    • Rosie Fyfe

      Thanks James. NZCMS has been involved in the import­ant res­tor­at­ive process in Taur­anga relat­ing to his­toric CMS actions, and it’s good to know about the event coming up in 2026

      Reply
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