Heavenly Father, thank you for extending my days so that I could be here today with these others who love you and reverence your Holy name.

We welcome this New Year not knowing what lies ahead, but you know. You know the end from the beginning.

We do know that there will be sad days and happy days. There will be blessings and lessons because that is the way things are.

But our Trust and Hope are in you, for you will never leave or forsake us.

Thank you for your Love and protection and for showing us glimpses of your glory in the amazing and spectacular sunrises and the canopy of stars overhead at night.

Thank you for always acknowledging our spoken words and unspoken thoughts. May they be pleasing to you always.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Who am I…?

Who am I to give Hope to people affected by cancer
When I can barely manage the common cold
Or a bruise on my shin

Who am I to encourage someone with cancer
When I have not walked in their shoes
Or travelled the road they are journeying

Who am I
I am a child of God
What can I do

I can listen, I can pray, I can smile,
I can touch your hand in reassurance
I can cheer your day with flowers or a meal

We can look to the Lord of Hope together
We can pray for a positive outcome for you
That is what we can do

Christmas may be the happiest season for many, but not for everyone. For those who are sick, have lost a loved one, are going through a financial struggle or difficult circumstances, are away from their families, don’t have a loving family, are in a broken relationship, etc., the season is not joyous.

So, let us all meditate and reflect on what Christmas truly means.

Luke 2:19 says, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in a manger, an angel from heaven appeared to the shepherds nearby who were tending their sheep and “proclaimed the Good News that will cause great joy for all people because a Savior has been born.”

Of all the people in society at that time, God chose the shepherds, the lowest of men, to announce Jesus’ birth. He did not announce it first to the rulers, the highly educated, the wealthy, but to the simple—the people that society considered unworthy.

Why? Because this act reflects God’s great love for humanity and His humble heart. He desires our reverence, obedience, and childlike faith in Him.

As we celebrate Christmas, may our focus be not just on food, gifts, carousing, and drinking, but let us be like Mary, who “pondered” what this moment means.

God came in human flesh, in the humblest of circumstances, to become one with us, to empathize with our human frailty, struggles, pain, and, yes, also our joys and hopes.

Luke 4:18 says,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”

Merry Christmas, everyone, and let us rejoice because our salvation and Immanuel has come.

Behind the gifts, food, decorations, music, and gatherings, there can also be weariness and even emptiness for many as one year ends and another looms.

However, there is something about Christmas that draws those who are listening to more, which tinsels and baubles won’t provide it.

We long for it; we want it but struggle to take hold of it.

What is this peace and goodwill to all men, and what does it mean?

I was reminded of a devout man of faith with God’s spirit in him who was drawn to the Temple after Jesus’ birth to meet the Saviour God had promised to his people.

He saw this peace with God, and so have we, but we must continue to watch and wait patiently for his return. The story is told in the gospel according to Luke.

Is God’s promise of a saviour still drawing us to him at Christmas in 2024?

Like Simeon, we have glimpsed God’s salvation and light of revelation in Christ. The gift has been given, and we can trust the one who gave it.

Now that the mystery has been revealed, let its promise continue to draw us to him as we prepare to receive it, not just at Christmas but every day.

Through the Arotahi, our Baptist whanau has prepared a 48-page prayer guide with daily readings from 1 December until 6 January.

I encourage you to use this resource during your Christmas celebration by reading the daily Advent portions and reflecting on them with your family, friends, or neighbours.

Thank you, Arotahi, for facilitating and organising these Daily Advent Readings.

You can download the PDF document by clicking this link: AROTAHI DAILY ADVENT READINGS 2024

Robyn Couper was a missionary from Oamaru who dedicated 33 years to her work in Haiti. She served as a missionary for the Oamaru Baptist Church. She passed away on 28 November 2024.

In memory of Robyn, we are reposting the featured article “Return to Haiti” from the March 2010 edition of NZ Baptist Magazine, Volume 126, No. 2.

March 2010 I NZ Baptist

Baptist missionary Robyn Couper retired from 33 years of service in Haiti last year. When a devastating earthquake struck in January, she found herself called to go back – this time, coordinating a team of medics and volunteers.

Robyn Couper, of Oamaru Baptist, worked until late last year as a missionary with the Evangelical Church of Haiti. Then came the earthquake. Soon, she will head back there at the head of a Kiwi medical relief mission.

Robyn grew up in Oamaru Baptist Church and later attended the Bible College of New Zealand. Her passion for mission was ignited by a three-month field trip to Cambodia with World Vision.

Robyn set her heart on being a missionary in China. However she ended up going on a short-term mission trip to Haiti instead. This resulted from Oamaru Baptist’s first mission convention and the work of the late Hector Bruce, which prompted the remarkable thrust in mission that characterises Oamaru Baptist to this day.

She worked with New Zealand doctor Stafford Burke in Haiti, where she would spend the next 33 years. In 1979, she had heart bypass surgery back in New Zealand before returning to Haiti to work with OMS until 1985 and then with the Evangelical Church of Haiti, where she remained until just recently.

“God used a lot of circumstances to put me in Haiti,” says Robyn. “God slowly led me into being there for a long time. He puts a whole lot of things in place so that things that would normally be impossible for you become possible.

“For me it became a lifetime commitment to be there. I hadn’t envisaged coming home last year. When I went back this term I wanted to help set up a new structure, but it turned out I couldn’t really do it. Also mum was also getting older and I had a bit of worry about her.

“So when I weighed up the fact I couldn’t do the job I wanted and a sense of family responsibility, I felt I needed to come home.”

Robyn was back home in Oamaru wondering what she was going to next with her life, when she got a phone call on January 13 from Bruce Albiston: Had she heard the news?

“I panicked. I soon gathered the earthquake in Haiti was a bad one. I couldn’t believe what I saw on TV and I spent the next three days feeling totally dazed.”

Robyn then joined with Bruce and retired Anglican archdeacon Bernard Wilkinson to form Project HHH (Heart and Hands for Haiti).

“From there is has just snowballed. It makes me very grateful to have grown up here as all these people came out of the woodwork and offered to get on board.”

The make-up of the Project HHH steering committee, which includes Oamaru Mayor Alex Familton, Oamaru Baptist pastor Neil Johnston and other local professionals, shows how much the community of Oamaru is getting behind the project.

Oamaru Baptist will continue Robyn’s personal support as well as promoting this project, but it is community based and independent of the church.

More than $43,000 was raised in the first month, with $60,000 expected by the end of March. The aim is a budget of $120,000 a year, to send medical teams to Haiti twice a year for the foreseeable future.

The plan is to send the teams to a hospital in Cap-Haitien in early May. Robyn herself leaves in April to pave the way.

She will use her knowledge of Haiti, and Cap-Haitien (a city about the size of Oamaru but with a population of 1 million) to make sure there is a place for teams to stay, that it will be a good cross-cultural experience, that hospital arrangements are in place, and that there are translators where needed.

The Project HHH team is now busy recruiting a couple of orthopaedic surgeons, an anaesthetist, a couple of physios, a general surgeon and possibly a psychotherapist to help with post earthquake trauma.

“We envisage supporting the hospital personnel and working with the existing structure. We want to share in the same battle with them so they can have some dignity – we don’t want to be someone coming in and imposing something on them,” says Robyn.

Eventually the aim is to also set up agricultural and building projects.

The situation in Haiti continues to be appalling. Many of the people in the devastated capital Port Au Prince have moved to Cap-Haitien, placing further strain on the city’s resources.

Robyn has a letter that describes the conditions in the hospitals: All the rooms are filled to capacity. Everyone is in the same room regardless of age, sex or injuries. The cries of pain are so intense they are unbearable, yet doctors selflessly give of their time and effort to help.

Most people cannot afford to buy postoperative medicine. They lay in the hospital after their surgery with prescription in their hand but without any way of obtaining the lifesaving medicine. They often die from the resulting infections.

“The country has to be rebuilt and if it takes 10 years it will be fantastic,” Robyn says. “But knowing Haiti, it will take much longer. I knew it would be a nine-day wonder in terms of the media, but we are committing ourselves to the long term.”

Not helping the situation is the attitude many Christians have towards a country known for its practice of voodoo. Many see the earthquake as God’s judgment.

“Everyone knows voodoo is in Haiti,” says Robyn. “One must never minimise the satanic influence on that country and culture and the long-term effects on how the country functions. But I think it is wrong to say this is why the earthquake happened. Everything that is wrong in this world is the result of mankind’s sin.

“I come home to New Zealand and I see on TV that one in 600 New Zealanders are in prison. Haiti is violent but it certainly hasn’t got one in 600 in prison. Our evangelical community is a small percentage of our country, yet in Haiti the evangelical church may well be as much as 25 percent of the population.

“If we had an earthquake, would all our Christians meet out in the middle of the road to thank God for still being alive? You wouldn’t see that. Yet this is the natural reaction of Haitian believers. They will gather all night to pray. When I had my heart attack they prayed for me all night and did not leave my bedside.

“Haitians are welcoming earthquake victims into their into their homes. People have gone back to their families, which has put an incredible load on them, but people have opened up their doors to do what they can. That’s the response you will get – they are a very resilient people.”

Robyn says she is very, very grateful for the support she has received from the Baptist churches in New Zealand for Project HHH, and the support of the New Zealand Baptist Union. She is asking for prayer support in the months ahead.

Grateful hearts and hands

Hearts and Hands for Haiti (Oamaru) would like to express our thanks through your column for the very generous contributions given to this work and to report, for all those interested, that the project is going well and the hand of God is on our planning and preparation.

We have targeted Cap-Haitien for help and this news comes from a church leader: “The government has provided transportation to the masses to transport people from the capital to Cap-Haitien,” which is what I expected. As he visited the St Justinien hospital in Cap, where our team will work, he said, “The cries were so intense that no human being could handle it.” But he also said, “the Haitian people have found a sense of purpose and have rekindled their relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior … they are singing and praising God for his goodness and mercy.”

As we seek personnel, pray for the people of Haiti who will soon be forgotten by many. Blessings on you for sharing with us.

I write on behalf of Neil Johnston, Pastor Oamaru Baptist; Dr Margaret Larder; Mrs Gill Dalloway, secretary; Sharyn Walker, Treasurer; Dawn Ewing (Manager WINZ); plus Rev. Buce Albiston, convenor; retired Archdeacon Rev Bernard Wilkinson; Rev Ron Parker, community worker; Alex Familton, Mayor of Oamaru; Alan McLay, ex-Mayor; Lisa Blaker, nurse.

– Robyn Couper, Oamaru

We celebrate Robyn’s remarkable dedication to God’s Kingdom, which has impacted Oamaru, New Zealand, Haiti, and other places worldwide.

I saw hope on the face of a woman leaving a hospital appointment

I heard hope in the voices of a couple expecting a baby after having lost two

I prayed hope for a lady having radiotherapy after a breast removal

I spoke hope to a child who waits for parents to resolve issues within their marriage

I hugged with hope a woman whose husband is very ill

I cried hope for a gentleman suddenly left on his own

I sang hope into my soul

I whistled hope and joy as I walked through my day

I delighted in the hope of the rainbow

I whispered hope to a friend I may never see again

I cheered, my hope for my child to master a skill finally realised

I watched Hope, a dog, as she comforts her owners, grieving parents of a teenager

I danced alone to express my hope in the Lord

I welcomed the rain, the hope of a good season

I often hope for a sunny day, a good report, a coffee with a friend, and time alone

I believe faith, hope and love cannot be separated; you can’t have one without the others

I welcome hope, for it is assurance that my full purpose in life is not yet fulfilled

I live in hope, for the best is yet to come

                                           While there is LIFE, there is HOPE

Just ten more sleeps until Christmas, you tell the little ones
Wait until you see your gifts, bigger and better than ever before
Can’t have your friends outdoing you

Mum, don’t get into debt this Christmas
You are the only one who cares what others think
All we want is a fun time and special food

What has happened to last year’s gifts, sitting in a cupboard somewhere, forgotten
My brothers and sisters don’t need to keep up with their peers
Start a new trend and keep it simple
But Mum, don’t get into debt this Christmas

Christmas Day is only one day in 365; what about the rest of the holidays?
Every year I can remember it is the same, we can’t do anything during the holidays
Like a trip to the movies or the Wildlife Park because you have no spare money

Mum, don’t get into debt this Christmas
We don’t want to hear about it every day until we go back to school that you have no money
It gets boring
There must be a better way

We don’t need the latest I.T. gadgets or Play Station
Buy us something we need that you can afford
Same for Christmas dinner, forget the turkey and ham; a chicken or pork will be fine
Jelly and ice cream with a few strawberries sounds good to me
Mum, please don’t get into debt this Christmas

Christmas is not about climbing some social ladder, so save your money for those who care
Christmas is not about purchases or actions you might regret later
Christmas is about remembering the reason for the season
Celebrating Jesus’ birth with family and close friends
So, Mum, there’s no need to get into debt this Christmas

Having time with you and Dad, a chance to play outside games and no phone interruptions
Is all we really ask
Seeing cousins or grandparents would be a bonus, but not at the expense of going
Into debt this Christmas
Mum, we love you, and we are pleased you are our Mother
But Please, Mum, don’t get into debt this Christmas

Written by your 5 children aged 11, 9, 7, 6 and 4 years

This is Mary’s testimony, which she shared on Sunday, October 6th. Since September, OBC has led an inspiring sermon series on the Book of Numbers.

When Pastor Jonan said we were going to study the Book of Numbers, I certainly did not get excited or enthusiastic about it.

It was not my “go-to” book in the Bible. It started with all those unpronounceable names of tribe leaders and Israel’s family descendants, etc. Then it goes on to them wandering in the desert for 40 years.

Now, at the same time as we were being introduced to all the tribes, the Māori King here in NZ had died, and all the Māori tribes were gathering. These tribes also had unfamiliar names, and most were difficult for me to pronounce.

I realised that throughout history, nothing has changed. Every culture calls together its leaders to set the rules and boundaries for its people to follow and acknowledge.

Next, we read about the people wandering in the desert for 40 years.

That was me. I wandered in the “desert” for 40 years, too. I did not leave the “desert” until I was 43 years old when I accepted Jesus as my Saviour and Redeemer. This reading and reflection was not the end.

I kept on reading until I came to Numbers chapter 27. Something else was happening in my life alongside this reading.

Before I became Mary Mason, my name was Mary Buck. My husband’s name was Cliff. We lived in Kekerengu in Marlborough.

One day, we drove to Christchurch to visit friends, and while there, we saw an article in the Christchurch newspaper about a man from San Diego, California, whose name was Cliff Buck (the same as my husband).

This man had seen a TV documentary called “This is New Zealand,” which prompted him to visit this country. He contacted the TV company in Wellington, and through them, the article was published.

On reading this, I suggested to my husband that he should find out this man’s address through the TV Channel and explain that because they had the same name, he would like to write to him.

And that is exactly what happened. The letter went back and forth. My Cliff wrote about life in Kekerengu and that he did a lot of deer stalking and pig hunting. He was a keen hunter.

A few months passed, and Mr. Cliff Buck from San Diego wrote to say that he was coming back to NZ and was looking forward to meeting us.

When we knew which day he was coming, we advised the newspaper reporters from the Marlborough Express, who duly came, took photos, and wrote an excellent article about the two men.

When Cliff Buck arrived, he had a special gift for my Cliff. It was a Buck Hunter’s Knife. For anyone who doesn’t know, the Buck brand is to hunting knives as a Rolex watch is to watches. It was a very special and much-valued gift.

A few years later, when my husband died, I put the Buck Knife away, where it stayed (still in its special box) for 35 years.

Three weeks ago, I took it out from its hiding place and thought, “What am I going to do with this if it is worth a bit.” Should I put it on Trade Me and sell it? No, that did not seem right. Should I give it to someone I knew was a hunter? No, I would have to think carefully about that. I had no idea what I should do.

While this quandary was going on, I continued to read the Book of Numbers, and when I got to Chapter 27, I found the answer.

Chapter 27 tells the story of these girls whose father (Zelophehad) had died, leaving no sons but only these daughters. The girls went to Moses (Eleazar, the priest, the leaders, and the whole assembly) and said they felt their father’s inheritance should come to them; otherwise, their father’s name would be lost.

Moses said to leave it with me; I will ask the Lord about it. And the Lord replied that the girls were correct. Give them the property that would have been given to their father if he had lived. If a man dies and has no sons, then his inheritance shall be passed on to his daughters. Moreover, this is a general law among you.

Wow, what a revelation that was. I had not given them, his daughters, a thought. My husband had no sons, only daughters, and I knew then that I had to pass the knife on to them.

I had no contact at all with the eldest daughter. As far as she was concerned, I was the “wicked witch of the West” as I had married their father. All I knew was her name and that she lived on the West Coast.

How was I going to find her? The West Coast Electoral Roll and the Greymouth Phone Book “found” her.

I phoned and explained who I was and why I was calling. I could almost feel her smiling. She said, “I’ve just been thinking about you. I knew Dad had a pen pal with the same name, but I did not know about the knife.”

We chatted for a few minutes, and I told her I would have it couriered to her along with photos, a newspaper article, and even an envelope sent from America. She was thrilled. She said she had no grandsons, but her sister did and that it would go to one of them one day.

When Cliff’s daughter received the parcel, she messaged me and thanked me so much. I was no longer the “wicked witch of the West.” A healing had taken place.

The Book of Numbers was exactly what I was meant to read.

On Saturday, October 26th, the TEE (Tools to Equip and Empower) Aotearoa Team—Ann Borquist, Lewis Varley, and Anneta Vysotskaya—will conduct the GLAD Workshop at Oamaru Baptist Church.

Oamaru Baptist Church continues its revival journey by developing and equipping group leaders to advance the church’s discipleship life. We are inviting you to join the GLAD Workshop.

The GLAD Workshop is open to Christian leaders interested in building and enhancing their leadership skills to lead a discipleship group using the Life of Christ Course.

The Life of Christ Course is a six-book program for Christian learners and future leaders. It is centred around the life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles.

Are you eager to cultivate a vibrant discipleship culture in your church?

Having essential support and training for group leaders and using affordable discipleship resources are the keys.

Come and join the GLAD Workshop! See the poster for more details.