New Zealand
The Land and the
People
About the size of Colorado, New Zealand is a mountainous island nation. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful and quite varied, with fjords, volcanoes, white-water rivers, and unusual geothermal resources. Most of its people are of British descent and preserve British traditions. The immigration numbers from oriental countries, especially from China and Hong Kong, are sharply increasing.
Religion
New Zealand is very nominally Christian. Almost one quarter of the population in the 1996 census answered "no religion" or "object to state." It is stated that only about 3% of the population attend church regularly and that about one percent of the population will be in church on any given Sunday. Among the Maori, Mormonism has had a considerable impact.
Past and Current
Work
In 1972, Bill and Glenna Grant were asked by the General Council to initiate the work of Baptist Mid-Missions in New Zealand. In January 1974, they settled in the Tauranga-Mt. Maunganui area and began the work of planting a church. Calvary Baptist Church was the result. Churches have also been started in Hamilton, Hastings, Northcote, Invercargill, Napier, Christchurch, and Te Awamutu.
Goals
Surveys indicate that there are 12 towns and cities in New Zealand, with populations above 10,000 people that are still without a Bible-preaching Baptist church. There are many areas with smaller populations also in need. The demand for New Zealand men to fill existing works is not even being met. If there are to be works started in these needy areas, more missionaries are greatly needed. As churches are established, a Bible college will be needed to train national pastors and workers. Since the normal migration pattern is from New Zealand to Australia, sending students abroad too often means losing them to local ministry. For this reason, a local Bible institute is an important area of need.
Workers needed
Church planters are needed to plant churches in areas lacking sound churches.