What an incredibly busy week we just experienced! It’s truly a blessing that we held a meaningful workshop on discipleship during the Labour Weekend.

By prioritizing God and tending to His heavenly garden, we enrich our spirits and look forward to a good season of sowing and harvesting.

NZ Labour Day Monday celebrates the establishment of the eight-hour workday. For Kiwis who enjoy gardening, this day marks the traditional unofficial start of the gardening season.

Thus, we pray for God’s blessings on our backyard gardens, too.

24 October Discipleship Report Evening with Anneta

We had a good turnout of 35 people during the Discipleship Report Evening with Anneta on 24 October. A missionary family of four joined us. We are happy to see our young people joining and making the event their regular Thursday activity for that week.

We thank Anneta Vysotskaya for sharing her testimony and ministry with TEE on the topic “TEE for the 21st Century and How It Can Change New Zealand.” Thank you for encouraging and inspiring us to pursue fervent discipleship in the church.

Watch this video clip of the event.

26 October G.L.A.D. Workshop

On Friday, 25 October, Jewel, Anneta, and I went to Timaru Airport to pick up Ann and Lewis.

The day’s plan was for the TEE Aotearoa team to meet face-to-face at a cafe in Timaru. Why Timaru? Richard, who lives in Christchurch, will drive to Timaru and join, sparing him another hour’s drive to Oamaru.

However, the Wellington Airport authorities cancelled all flights from Wellington that day. So, the TEE Aotearoa face-to-face meeting was postponed.

Ann and Lewis took the last flight to Dunedin and then took a taxi to Oamaru. When they arrived, it was almost midnight. Praising the Lord for His provision.

The Group Leaders Advanced Discipleship Workshop proceeded as planned despite the challenges faced the previous day.

We had 12 participants in the training from three churches: Oamaru Baptist Church (8), All Nations Church of Hope (3), and Cornerstone Bible Community Church (1).

Thank you to all participants and the churches that joined the workshop.

We are grateful to our resource persons, Ann Borquist and Lewis Varley, who travelled to share their precious time and talents.

Thank you, Hopevale Trust, for supporting Oamaru Baptist Church’s ministries.

Thank you to our hosts, who offered accommodation and meals for Ann and Lewis. Thank you to the helping hands who came to help with the preparations and aftercare.

Thank you, Oamaru Baptist Church members, for your prayers and support in one or many ways.

Below are more photos from the GLAD Workshop photos.

Re-establishing the discipleship journey for OBC is challenging and requires commitment. However, we remain resolute and willing to persevere because discipleship is the only way for a believer to grow both horizontally and vertically.

We look forward to starting the “Life of Christ” TEE course early next year.

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.

Nineteen participants joined the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) Group Leaders’ Training on 31 March (7:00-9:00 PM) and 1 April (10:00 AM to 5:00 PM) at Oamaru Baptist Church.

The participants came from four church groups, Salvation Army Oamaru (7), All Nations Church of Hope (3), Waitaki Life Group (1), and Oamaru Baptist Church (8).

The TEE Aotearoa training team is thankful for the support of their respective pastors – Paul and Jocelyn Smith (Salvation Army Oamaru), Sam and Dawn Ghoorah (All Nations Church of Hope) and Andy Aguilar (Waitaki Life Group).

Our Next Step Commitments

• Organise a city-wide small group programme (coordinate between the four churches that participated) – Jonan will follow up with the pastors.
• Talk to your leadership.
• Exchange phone numbers and emails of training participants – Jonan will follow up.
• Pastors meet to encourage and coordinate on TEE – pastors could share ideas and pray for groups in each church. 
• Ask the Lord what you can do to follow up on this training 
• Invite some people to form a group.
• Share the TEE model with your church.
• Think outside of the box.
• Pray for TEE to spread in Oamaru and that God will lead you to a specific person.
• Order some books from TEE Aotearoa and move forward in faith.
  
  Source: Ann’s notes

Thank you, Ann and Lewis and TEE Aotearoa!

We thank Ann Borquist and Lewis Varley for offering their precious time to train us. We salute your commitment to Jesus’ Great Commission through TEE Aotearoa.

Thinking of Lewis having an early morning trip from Hamilton to Wellington, then with Ann, flying into Timaru and travelling to Oamaru on 31 March, and then the trip back makes us value dearly the training that we received from you. May God bless you and your respective families.

Acknowledgment of support

TEE Aotearoa appreciates deeply and is thankful for the following organisations and persons: Oamaru Baptist Church, Hopevale Trust, Century House Bed and Breakfast (host), Arnel and Jane Casitas (host), Brendan and Deana Grant (host), Jewel Castillon (host), Gleniti Baptist Church, and many others who prayed and helped make this event a success.

PHOTO CREDITS: Ann Borquist