Some time ago, Don and I prayed a bold prayer: “Lord, put us on the front-line!” We prayed this prayer for years, though at times it felt like our prayers were hitting the ceiling.
Now and then we would talk about where we would like to move to as we knew our time in Australia was coming to and end and needed to re-establish ourselves in New Zealand.
Our family has spent most winters in our lives up Mt Ruapehu and dreamed of living in Ohakune—it seemed like the perfect fit for our ski-loving family.
But another option tugged at our hearts: Whitianga, on the stunning Coromandel Peninsula. Both areas lacked an Adventist church, and we felt called to start one in a remote part of the North Island where there was no church.
We prayed for clarity. Ohakune offered the snow and skiing we loved, while Whitianga was known for its beautiful beaches and would allow Don to indulge in his passion for diving. After much prayer and deliberation, God’s leading became clear: Whitianga was where He wanted us.
The first two years were slow. We gathered with a handful of Adventists in the area, meeting in homes and brainstorming ways to establish a church. I started running NEWSTART cooking classes in the community, which led to small opportunities to share God with people. Yet despite our efforts, no-one came to our meetings.
Then everything changed.
An English Adventist lady of Jamaican descent came to the Coromandel Peninsula to do a house sit for her friends in Whangapoua. After connecting with us, she was walking on the beach and got into a conversation with a local Maori man named Earl—a very community-minded person. Through the course of the conversation, he mentioned that he and his brother, Lance and sister-in-law, Michelle, had been watching Adventist TV for a few years and they wanted Bible studies. This visiting lady from England got hold of Don and asked him if he would go out there and take a Bible study. Don instantly agreed and asked the lady, “Do you know what topic they are interested in?” to which she replied, “They want a study on the Millennium.” Because they had already been watching Seventh-day Adventist television for a long time, Don figured they were not totally new to the Bible and more challenging topics so he put together a one-hour study (that turned into three hours with a lunch break between). These people had so many questions from the topics they had heard on TV and were very spiritually hungry. We sat on their large, beautiful front porch with a stunning sea view all the way to Cuvier Island and the Mercury Island group as they eagerly took their Bibles and drank in the Word.
They wanted to discuss the Sabbath and asked us if we would come back the following week. The following week we went back and Michelle had invited her mother, Dianne. She liked the study so much, she went home and invited her husband Dobby, saying “I think you would enjoy listening to Don. He and his wife are Seventh-day Adventists.”
So, the following week, Dobby was there!
Part way through the study that day, with tears in his eyes, Dobby exclaimed, “I can’t believe I am sitting here—in a Seventh-day Adventist study with Seventh-day Adventist people!”
We asked him what he meant and he told us: “I was raised an Adventist in New Plymouth and did the whole church thing. Went to JMVs (Junior Missionary Volunteers) and learnt my memory verse and then, at the age of 14, I decided I’d had enough and wanted no more of the church and ran away and changed my name so my family and the police could not find me. I got a job and eventually became a sail maker in Auckland and started a life of yachting. And now, here I am, sitting in a Seventh-day Adventist Bible study and I am BACK! Back with the truth and back in the Bible and I need to be back with God!”
The following week, more people turned up. This was the pattern that carried on for months, with new people coming, until one day, our group hit 19. This went on for two years.
One winter Friday night, Earl called us. “I’ve invited a friend to join us tomorrow. He wants a study on the Mark of the Beast!
Don hesitated. “That’s a heavy topic for someone new!” he protested. But Earl reassured him, “This man knows his Bible and specifically requested it.”
So that bleak, cold July Sabbath, we met Earl’s friend—a burly, retired roading engineer with a commanding presence. The only thing he said while we were studying in a circle, was “Wow—I have never seen so many open Bibles on knees!”
At the end of the study, he stood up and said, “I’m satisfied! I came today to test you all to observe if you are speaking biblical truth and I can now see that you do, so I will bring my wife next week. I told her to stay home and not come today in case you did not speak the truth.” His wife came the following Sabbath and they came every Sabbath after that. This man then told us down the track that he had been taking the study notes and preaching them at his Sunday-keeping church!
The study group kept growing with people coming and going. It got to the point we needed help. We started inviting the attendees into town to meet with a few others one Sabbath a month. We took it real slow and gentle.
One day, I was thinking it would be good to have a Bible worker to be able to work with these people too. I started praying about it. I did not tell anyone, not even Don, my thoughts or that I had been praying. I just kept it tucked away. A couple of months after I started praying about what to do, Annette from NZ Christian Foundation rang and asked if we would like a Bible worker. I had never told a soul my prayer!
We are just ordinary New Zealanders, living quietly and doing our best to follow God’s leading. You might think, I couldn’t do this; I don’t have time. But if you let God work in your life, you’ll be amazed at how He makes a way. All it takes is one step of faith. Pray, “Put me on the front-line,” and get ready for an incredible journey.
God works in amazing ways. You just need the courage to say yes.
Janice Carter and her husband Don live in the idyllic beach-side settlement of Whitianga, on the stunning Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand.