By Grace Ho, Hope Auckland
With NZ finally opening up its international borders in March 2022, our church-planting team was able to start making plans to fly to Auckland after a year of delay due to COVID. Yet God’s plan was always perfect! Despite another COVID wave in Brisbane, issues with passport renewal, delays in visa application and health scare, God brought four of us (Grace, Phuong, Nicole and Gabriel) to Auckland between the span of March to August 2022. Many challenges could have held us back from flying to Auckland, yet God was faithful and He led us to arrive safely according to His perfect timing.
Our first Life Group officially took place on 12 August 2022, with two dear friends visiting from Brisbane (May & Eddie), and one more member zooming in from Singapore. Since then, we have seen many visitors joining us for our outreach events and Life Group. Through our weekly campus outreach in the two major universities of Auckland, we have made many new friends, including both locals and internationals. We have been so amazed by how God brought different ones to us, sometimes in ways we could never have imagined. In our most recent outreach event (Chinese New Year Party), God once again exceeded our faith goal and brought a total of 18 people to our party, and it was a joy to bless and connect with them all.
Even though our Life Group is still small and there are many battles to fight through in the mission field, yet we are very grateful to witness firsthand how God moves in miraculous ways to provide for us all that we need – finance, jobs, visa, protection over our health and safety, divine connections, and even moral support from our friends and spiritual families overseas. Truly all glory to God for the good work He has started in Auckland, for He is the One who will establish His church through our “yes Lord, here I am, send me.”
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6
