Te Haerenga o mata whanui: Update two
update: One
Te haerenga o mata whānui is a 2nd level Te haerenga programme for those who have done Te haerenga and wishes to go further. Te Haerenga o mata whānui is about broadening your horizons and going deeper in our understanding of who God is.
'Te haerenga o mata whanui' held its second marae gathering at Ruapeka Marae, just outside of Putaruru and Tirau on the way to Rotorua. This was the very first time for us to be on this marae and were blessed by the hospitality of those from Ruapeka.
The focus this weekend was on 'hearing the voice of God'
Marina Peautolu took us through some principles of hearing His voice, facilitated discussions and had some very practical exercises for us.
As the hearer/listener there are things we need to be aware of such as having a clean heart, being humble, having faith etc.
Recognizing the way He speaks and communicates to us is important as well as deciphering what is of self, the enemy and what is of God.
We had great discussions in small groups, full of laughter, revelation, wisdom and freedom.
We were asked the question 'why is it important to talk to & hear from God'?. The feedback were things like ...
for guidance
for wisdom
for direction
for understanding
for blessings
to make our needs known etc
But the main one was to deepen our love and relationship with Him and out of that will come the wisdom, understanding, guidance etc that we need.
Every day we make decisions and the choices we make can be the right one or the wrong one. We can make these decisions on past experience, selfish desires, circumstances etc and some times its hard to hear how God is speaking.
An exercise we did to process this reality was to scatter toys on the floor along with a lot of live mouse traps. Two people volunteered to be the leader and the other the follower (blind folded). The aim of the exercise was to lead the follower to pick up a certain toy (a cell phone in this case) without being snapped by live mouse traps. The leader could not touch the follower and could only stand outside the perimeter with everyone else who would do their best to distract follower from hearing the leader.
It was a great practical way to flesh out challenges for being lead by God who does not wish us any harm at all.
We also continued some discussions from our last gathering regarding cultural practices etc and looked at the question "what makes something evil"?
All in all it was an awesome weekend and great to hosted at a new marae.
Much thanks to the kaumatua of Ruapeka marae and John & Lisa Toetoe together with our whanau from Tirau for hosting us and to Marina Peautolu for her teaching and input on hearing from God .
Next gathering for 'Te Haerenga o mata whanui' is in Kawhia on the 2-4 Nov. We are looking forward it with excitement and will also be held at a new Marae we have yet to visit.
Until next time, hei kona.
Prayer needs
That the Lord bless and affirm our gatherings with His presence and revelation of truth.
Protection as everyone travels to each location.
Favor with local communities.
Funding to operate Te Haerenga programmes.
Preparation and wisdom for Te haerenga 2008 (2 programmes in different regions will run simultaneously)
Protection of the truth and the courage to walk in it.
Thank you for praying into this.
Contact us: info@islandbreeze.org.nz
archived updates of Te Haerenga 2007