CLIVE EXELBY
Repentance, Reconciliation, Restoration.
“The Spirit of God is moving in the hearts of mankind, drawing them towards repentance, reconciliation and restoration. God is leading us away from the tragic events in the past, and the painful history between the first people of this land and those who came after them.
When I read part 2 of Dean Salthouse’s testimony, it caused me to reflect on my recent travels to Northland, where I saw afresh what God is doing in places like Warkworth, Kaiwaka, Moerewa, Kaitaia, Whangarei, Mangawhai and beyond, I am encouraged that God is on the move across our nation.
God has been preparing something in the Bay of Plenty (Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi) for a long time. The present-day movement of churches onto Te Papa Peninsular can be seen as part of something God began generations ago. This could be the beginning of a restoration that creates a ripple effect for future generations.
The recent move of some local Churches within the Te Papa Peninsula (a historic area of Tauranga that stretches from the downtown city center south toward Greerton) is a God moment with its origins prophetically set more than 200 years ago. Several churches are coming together and stepping into what they believe God is doing on this consecrated ground.
Look at Chapel St, Brown Street, Marsh St, Mission Street in Tauranga. God set a stake in the ground on this Te Papa Peninsula a long time ago waiting for someone to recognise the significance and see the fruit of what our Saviour accomplished when He paid the price for these souls on the cross of Calvary.
We must in the Spirit reach out and seize this moment recognising that this move is not just for our generation but for generations way ahead of us. What is happening will have a ripple effect, like a pebble dropped in a pond. It has the potential to impact this city, this nation, and ultimately the world.
Ephesians 5:15-17 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is”.
Timeline of Christian History of this land:
The Mission station is located at the Northern end of the Te Papa Peninsula, once the landing place of migrating waka in the 13th century, and named Tauranga Moana (Te Awanui), place of safe anchorage. The earliest people known to have lived here were the Purukupenga and the Ngamarama who built the Otamataha Pa.
1820: Inter tribal warfare.
1828: The first Missionaries visited and found the Pa abandoned, the inhabitants killed, fled or taken as slaves.
1830: CMS (Church Missionary Society) established a Missionary presence among the returning Māori population. Security and trade.
1838: Archdeacon Alfred Brown and his family came and settled on the land building small houses, supply sheds and a boat shed. They went about bringing the Christian message to the locals and preparing converts for water baptism. At this point Brown and the local Chiefs signed an agreement to formally establish the Te Papa Mission Station and allow permanent structures to be built. First the Mission Library and in 1847 the Mission house.
1860; Waikato land wars soon involved Tauranga Māori. Imperial troops came and took over the Mission land and buildings. Brown was torn between loyalty to his beloved Māori and bonds with his fellow countrymen, having to bury many friends from both sides of the war. Guilt and betrayal.
1864: In April the battle of Gate Pa was a tragic victory for Māori.
1864: In May the battle of Te Ranga (Pyes Pa) the Māori were brutally defeated, and their land taken, life had changed forever, and the work of CMS declined.
1873: Brown and his second wife purchased the Mission house and 6.8 hectares from CMS and re-named it The Elms.
Then in Genesis 26 :1-25 we read how Isaac re-dug the wells of his father. This is what God spoke to me about concerning this land. Restoration and reconciliation to the tangata whenua (people of the land) - re-digging the wells of the beautiful relationship that once existed between God, the missionaries and the Māori people.
God is the God of repentance, restoration and reconciliation. We see this throughout scripture. In the story of Israel, in the life of King David, in the return of the Prodigal son, and in the restoration of the Apostle Peter after the cross.
In John 4 :4-15 Jesus meets the Samaritan women at the well. The well becomes a place of encounter, revelation and living water.
And Isaiah 12:1-6 speaks of drawing water from the wells of salvation.
What is happening on the Te Papa Peninsular is therefore not simply about buildings or locations. It is about recognising what God is restoring and re-digging the wells that have long been covered over.
We cannot change the tragic events of the past, nor should we forget the pain and brokenness that have shaped the relationship between tangata whenua and those who came after them. But perhaps this moment is an opportunity to bring those events before the cross, not to remain bound by the past, but to allow the blood of Jesus to bring healing, reconciliation and restoration, opening the way for something new.
I believe God is calling us to recognise what He has been doing among the Māori people and throughout this land, and to step into a new season of unity.
As old wells are re-dug and what has been lost is restored, the floodgates of God’s purposes can be opened again.
What begins on the Te Papa Peninsular need not remain there. It can become a ripple of reconciliation that reaches across the Bay of Plenty, across Aotearoa and beyond, bringing glory to God and opening the way for generations yet to come.
This is a God moment.”