Markus Bain was diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome 3 years ago and we continue to pray for him to return to full health. It’s been a long road for Markus and the whole Bain family. Here are some things they would really appreciate us praying for specifically this week.

• He has surgery planned for 14th June to have gut reconstruction to close both stomas. Please pray that this surgery would be successful and that he would be able to poo by himself.

• Pray for protection from any respiratory illness before and after the surgery.

• Pray that he wouldn’t need emergency surgery before his op on 14th due to reoccuring prolapses of his intestine.

Thanks for praying whānau!

Last year we mentioned the Open Home Foundation is in urgent need of more foster parents in Wellington. Jerram sat down with Leanne Singh from OHF last year to get a little more understanding of what fostering entails (which you can see here). 

OHF is holding an information evening where you can learn more about fostering and ask any burning questions you may have. 

Date: Thursday 8 June from 730-830pm

Venue: Level 1, 119 Queens Drive, Lower Hutt

RSVP by 1 June to leanne.singh@ohf.org.nz

In 2022 we wrote and produced a Prepare for Marriage course for engaged couples. We realised there are many aspects of a pre-marriage course that are beneficial to revisit throughout the stages of marriage. Therefore, we have modified the Prepare for Marriage course with married couples in mind, and encourage married people to set aside time to go back to basics and refresh your marriage from the foundational building blocks and beyond.

There is an option to attend a short course at 9 Hania Street on the 26th of June and 10th of July. Or option two will be to complete the course at home in your own time.

To register for either option, go to the events icon on the Church Center app or you can register via the link under “Events” in this newsletter. The cost per couple, whether you do it in person or at home, is $15 to cover the cost of the workbooks. (If cost is an issue, please let us know.)

Money is a subject people are really private about. At the same time, it’s an important issue that affects many aspects of our lives. This is especially true as the cost of living continues to rise in our country. It’s not a subject we can continue to avoid. After all, Jesus talked about it a lot!

According to Jesus, how we see money and what we do with money are a strong indicator of what’s going on in our hearts. It affects the sort of Jesus followers we are becoming. We need therefore to take time to talk about money together, to understand God’s perspective and to encourage one another to honour God with all we have - even our money.

Watch this clip from Simon sharing his heart for this series

We’re excited to gather again together for an evening of encounter with the Lord through prayer and worship.

For now, get the date in you calendar and there will be more info coming soon.

On the theme of BLESS, here is a way you could serve people in our local community.

Do you have room to host short-term international male students in term 3? (The dollar amount is the amount you would get paid for hosting)

1. Chinese students (4) for 3 weeks at $350.00 per week from July 22 until August 10

2. Chinese student (1) for 5 weeks at $350.00 per week from July 22 until August 25

3. Japanese students (2) for 4 weeks at $350.00 per week from August 01 until August 30

4. Japanese student (1) for 6 weeks at $350.00 per week from July 16 until 26 August

5. Japanese students (3) for 1 term at $315.00 per week from 15 July until end of term 3.

If you’re interested, please call or text Virginia Wilson from Rongotai College on 027 338 2837

The Street Church has launched podcasts! We have uploaded 500 sermons from the last 10 years so that you can now listen to sermons past and present from whatever device you usually access podcasts from. You will find The Street Church on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you access any of our more recent sermons from Spotify, you’ll also find them available as videos. Happy listening!

At Together last Sunday, Simon and Jenny introduced us to a tool as we each seek to play our part in the mission of our church by becoming disciples who multiply. The tool is called “BLESS” and you can hear its creator Dave Fergusson explaining it here in this video.

We gave out bookmarks on Sunday to remind us to do one thing from BLESS every day. I wonder what you have been doing this week?

Sunday 21 May - 10 am - 12 pm

Together is today, at Wellington High School! Here are some things you need to know:

• Doors open at 9.30 so please get there for 9.30 especially if you have children to check-in (there are going to be lots of people to get in and get seated)

• The main car park is at 1 Wallace Street but there will not be enough space for everyone to park there. There will be reserved mobility parking at the car park on Wallace Street.

If the main car park is full, there will be helpful car park attendants who will be able to direct you to alternative parking at the Dominion Museum Building, 15 Buckle Street. 

Please make sure you allow plenty of time! Another alternative for parking is to park at 21 Hania Street and walk over; it’s about a 10-15 minute walk. 

• If you have forgotten to register please just show up - there is space for about 150 extra people. If you have kids and you haven’t registered you will need to find someone on the door on Sunday morning to find out if there is space in the relevant programme for them.

• Other than that, we can’t wait to see you there! It’s going to be an amazing time together!

Sadly the Davies family (David, Laura, Megan, Avery and Bryce) will soon be leaving us and going back to the US. They have been at East since the day we started, and we will miss them a lot. Their last Sunday here will be Sunday 21 May and there will be a chance to say goodbye to them that afternoon, as the Marks family will host a drop-in at their home between 1.30 - 3.30pm.

If you would like to see them at Nick and Kathryn’s on 21 May, please let the Marks know on 021 027 78814 and they can give you the address.

What comes to mind when you think about worship? Is it a genre of music on your device?  Is it the way we live every day of our lives? Is it just a bunch of songs we sing on Sunday? The truth is that worship is far deeper and more important than we could imagine. In God, we find the one who is truly worthy of worship. He’s the one our souls truly crave. And He’s the one around whom the whole of heaven gathers in unceasing adoration. We become like what we worship, so our worship of Jesus has a huge bearing on whether we’re becoming more like Him. So can I encourage you to make this series a priority as we go on a journey together in worship - extravagant, powerful, reverent worship?

In addition to the pastors and other staff, The Street has an eldership board that carries out a combination of governance and shepherding for our church.

Elders are volunteers who provide spiritual oversight for the overall church, as well as being available at our local services to support the local leaders and be available to the congregation.

Now that we are meeting in multiple locations, we want to have more of a local eldership presence at our locations, and we will be looking to bring more elders on board over the next few months.

Today we want to propose Matt Bate as a potential elder, to give the congregation three weeks to pray and provide any feedback before the elders make a final decision about whether Matt will join the eldership.

Matt is based at our Hutt location, and prior to the Hutt service being established, was at our Mt Vic location.

If you have any feedback to provide, please contact elders.chair@thestreet.org.nz - your email will go to the chair of our eldership board, Matt Conway.

Our friends at Miramar Salvation Army are hosting a Parenting Place seminar on Thursday 11 May. Here’s what they say about it:

Join us for an evening of learning and upskilling together. If juggling parenting, isolation, work responsibilities and the intensity of life in general has left you feeling overwhelmed or in need of some fresh ideas, then this is the talk for you. Kind, Firm, Calm opens the lid on common parenting struggles and provides proven strategies and insights that cut to the heart of daily challenges.

Whether you have the world’s strongest-willed toddler or a young person who just won’t do what they are asked, practical advice and heartfelt encouragement will restore hope to your parenting.

Join us from 7pm for tea, coffee and nibbles for a 7.15pm start.

Tickets are $5 per person. (Miramar Salvation Army are covering all other costs not covered by entry fees). This session is being led by the Parenting Place (https://parentingplace.nz)

We'd love to see you there!

For more info and tickets, head to: https://parentingmiramar.eventbrite.co.nz

If you missed it last week, our 24/7 prayer room is now a permanent feature. It is always so powerful to set aside devoted time to pray, and sometimes it helps to get outside of our usual routines and environments.  The prayer room is a great resource for you to use. Make it part of your regular weekly rhythms and see what the Lord might do. Book your slots here.

How are you at managing your money? Do you have a good budgeting system that is helping you achieve your financial goals? If not, the CAP Money course could be just what you need. 

CAP Money is a FREE budgeting course that is helpful for anyone who wants some advice about building a budget and being able to stick with it no matter your current financial situation.

Our next CAP Money course starts on Thursday, May 4 at 6.30 PM at Hania Street and runs for three weeks. This is a course for everyone – not just Christians so the course is an ideal event to invite people to

You can sign up for our course through the CAP Money website here, and if you need any more info, you can email capmoney@thestreet.org.nz

Click here to watch a message from Jerram with the exciting news that our 24/7 prayer room is remaining open for the foreseeable future.  It has been incredible to have a space set aside for prayer and I know many of you have had powerful times of prayer in there. You can book your slots at this link

In addition to the pastors and other staff, The Street has an eldership board that carries out a combination of governance and shepherding for our church.

Elders are volunteers who provide spiritual oversight for the overall church, as well as being available at our local services to support the local leaders and be available to the congregation.

Now that we are meeting in multiple locations, we want to have more of a local eldership presence at our locations, and we will be looking to bring more elders on board over the next few months.

Today we want to propose Matt Bate as a potential elder, to give the congregation three weeks to pray and provide any feedback before the elders make a final decision about whether Matt will join the eldership.

Matt is based at our Hutt location, and prior to the Hutt service being established, was at our Mt Vic location.

If you have any feedback to provide, please contact elders.chair@thestreet.org.nz - your email will go to the chair of our eldership board, Matt Conway.

The Street Church partners with Christians Against Poverty to help people in Wellington get out of unmanageable debt, and also to share the life-changing message of Jesus!

We are looking for more people to get involved! There are three main opportunities:

Debt Coach

This is a voluntary role (approximately 8 hours per week), and full training is provided. A Debt Coach will visit a client and work with them through the process of their debt-free journey. It is not essential to be good with finances - CAP head office takes care of preparing the budget. People skills and a heart for those in difficult circumstances are most important.  

Support Friend

A Support Friend will visit a client alongside the Debt Coach. Their role is simply to be a friend, take the client out for the occasional coffee, and just generally be there for them. The Support Friend is not involved at all with the financial side - so you don’t need any accounting skills! Being a friend could involve sharing your faith and/or discipleship. 

Prayer and/or food donations

There is also the opportunity to pray for the work we are doing, and we have people who bake and make meals for our clients.

If you have compassion for people and want to journey alongside someone who is in need of support, this is a ministry that is truly changing the lives of people in our city who are in desperate situations. 

“After I signed up to receive help from CAP, I learned how to relax. Knowing that I no longer have to deal with this on my own, I can now sleep at night.”

“Before CAP, I felt mentally drained. Constant planning to try and provide for my wife and kids. Now for the first time, I feel like there is a future for me."

If you are interested in finding out more about getting involved with CAP, please email Merrie: cap@thestreet.org.nz

The Street’s youth are up in Feilding this weekend for Central Easter Camp. This camp is so often a milestone moment in the lives of our young people. Let’s be praying that this year would be no different and that the young people who go would encounter the Lord powerfully and would come back filled up and inspired to follow Jesus with their whole lives.

Easter Sunday is next Sunday! If you’re in Wellington, why not invite a friend who doesn’t usually come to church that you’ve been praying for? We’ll have hot cross buns for morning tea and a wonderful service to celebrate that Jesus is ALIVE!

Also a reminder about the Sonrise service being hosted By The Street in conjunction with the Council of Wellington Churches. 6.30am up at Mt Vic lookout. What a special way to start Easter Sunday.