View this email in your browser

The Gilberts in New Zealand

The Gilberts live in Auckland, New Zealand, an ethnically diverse city in a very secular country. God has led them to labour at expanding His kingdom by building a network of house churches, discipling new leaders, and practising intentional hospitality.

Term 4 happenings

Life in NZ picks up speed as we head into the end of the school year and holiday season! For us, that includes our regular gatherings on Sunday, our mid-week discipleship groups for adults and kids, and events. We hosted a Halloween alternative party, as well as two Christmas parties for kids and youth. Our church family celebrated birthdays, prayed for one another, shared meals, served neighbours, and encouraged one another to persevere. In other words, we have lived out Acts 2: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” As we devote ourselves to God and one another, we pray that the result will be the same as the early church, “having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

We finally wrapped up our Alpha Youth series. In addition to our church youth we had a few others attending regularly. It was a well-done programme that prompted good discussion from all, and we pray that it plants seeds of faith in their hearts.

Holiday happenings

We will be enjoying some time off from the mid-week activities and events but will continue meeting regularly as a church family. Our focus this summer season will be on family rest, and relational hospitality. We get to enjoy our first summer in this house with many pool parties and BBQs! Megan’s mother is here for the summer and Kris’s parents will be spending time with us also. This time off from regular activities will give us space for prayer and planning for 2023.

Ministry snapshot: One of our church family shared a personal struggle with the group, and we had the privilege of laying hands on him in prayer. This openness led to an opportunity for the church body to support and encourage, to “bear one another’s burden” (Galatians 6), and we have seen the Lord at work in this situation as a result.

What’s next

Next year we look at diving deep into what it means to be a disciple-making disciple. The women’s study group will be applying the gospel story to daily life issues as mothers. Our youth will be participating in some social activities with another local youth group, as well as studying God’s word together. We anticipate hosting an adult Alpha course after Easter. And we have been given permission to meet twice per month at the school beginning in March, so we will be alternating weeks at home and the school. We plan to begin taking the kids through the Foundation Worldview curriculum next year. If you would like to make a contribution toward helping us purchase this curriculum, let me know via email. You can view the curriculum HERE.

Yet in all of these plans, we simply want to put ourselves in a position where the Spirit can work in and through us, even if it’s different than we anticipate!

If you would like more information about our ministry and how you can support us financially, please visit our website or email us:

www.thegilberts.info

https://chogglobal.org/team/kmgilbert/

KrisGilbert@chog.org MeganGilbert@chog.org

Prayer Requests