Ben Carswell
National Director, TSCF
The first time I met Rev Keri-Ann Hokianga, she described herself as ‘a modern day Ruatara’, the Māori Chief who translated Rev Samuel Marsden’s message when he first brought the gospel to NZ. As someone who proudly comes from the same village as Marsden, Keri-Ann and I quickly connected, and realised we shared the same desire: to bring the good news of Jesus to Māori and Pākehā in NZ. Keri-Ann has a unique and winsome way of being able to weave waiata, word and haka together to tell our gospel story out of her own whakapapa.
It was out of TSCF’s vision and values that I invited her to join us as one of our plenary speakers at TSCF’s Summit conference. Keri-Ann gave generously of her time, investing in the lives of students and staff, and sharing in one of the most memorable TSCF student meetings I can remember. Our desire was that this may be one more step along TSCF’s bi-cultural journey as we seek to be Tangata Tiriti in our witness amongst students.
Her session stimulated many conversations and I have already heard of students describing life-changing moments as they realise the opportunity to share the gospel with all people, including those in our neighbourhood. Keri-Ann’s input into Summit was a small and significant step in our journey, but we also pray that it will be part of an ongoing journey together. We have invited Keri-Ann to share in Canvas as an extension of our what our students enjoyed at Summit.
Rev. Keri-Ann Hokianga
Māori Evangelist
Ko te mea tuatahi, korōria ki te Atua i runga rawa. Ko ia te Atua o ngā Atua, te Kīngi o ngā Kīngi.
All glory to God who is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. I acknowledge the wonderful team at TSCF and pray that the Lord would continue to bless the work that each of you do to advance the kingdom of God here in Aotearoa.
The TSCF Summit 2024 was a lovely event for me to attend, thank you so much for having me.
I hail from Manutuke on my father’s side, he is the Reverend Rapiata Hokianga, my mother is the Venerable Archdeacon Fran Hokianga (nee Karaka) who hails from Pamapuria in Kaitaia. I am fourth generation in my family to be ordained as a priest in the Māori Anglican church in Te Taitokerau. We have partnered with NZCMS allowing me to hold one of two roles as a Māori Evangelist, my mother holds the other role as a Māori Evangelist in the far north Kaitaia. Our roles have been formed as a result of the 2018 census results regarding Christian faith, and the massive decline in numbers of Māori attendance and participation in the Christian faith and church.
In the four years of being in this role, I have been invited by our people onto marae, homes, workplaces, hospitals, kura, prisons, corrections, online, tangihanga and it has been enriching to learn from the beautiful Māori and non-Māori people that God allows me to meet.
It has been a blessing to be able to build authentic relationships, to learn to listen with the intent to understand, and to respond in genuine love for the needs of the other. This approach has created an openness from whānau to be willing to share their personal stories which are sacred and which we see as a taonga.
The openness of the whānau partly shown in their willingness to invite me to share a perspective of the gospel’s arrival to, and spread throughout, Aotearoa. This includes the invitation from some Māori from the Ngapuhi tribe for the missionaries to bring the gospel to Aotearoa. I also share some of the Bible teachings that were shared by missionaries with some of our Māori ancestors, which led to the spreading of the word of God all across Aotearoa by Māori to Māori, and saw transformation of many Māori in that time. This has been news to most of the whānau, and it has given them another perspective of Christianity and the gospel to consider.
At Summit I was privileged to share a song called Te Hari a Ngapuhi and this was the response from Māori to the first sermon preached to Māori from the gospel of Luke. In 1814, Christmas day, Rev Samuel Marsden of CMS was invited by some Māori chiefs in Ngapuhi to preach the gospel in Aotearoa. The sermon was translated into te reo Māori by Ngapuhi chief Ruatara. Ka nuku nuku Ka Neke neke is part of some of the words in this hari, it has one meaning: that this was Māori shifting and making space in their hearts and mind for the gospel to come into their lives and world as they knew it in 1814. Please pray that there would be a shifting and a making of space in the hearts of Māori and non-Māori alike as their response to the gospel we share with them in 2024 and beyond.