We are passionate about the expansion of the church because there are many people who need to know the love of our God.
As we plant campuses, resource buildings, provide assistance to the vulnerable in our communities and empower the wider body of Christ, we are able to be the answer in our world today.
The Expansion Offering is a point of acceleration – our chance to add fuel to the fire.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
—Ephesians 3:20 NLT
Our buildings house the harvest. When we give of our resources to build these buildings, we are sowing a material seed that will bring about a spiritual harvest. From building the ARISE Centre we have witnessed the power of this in action – now we are positioned to go even further.
In 2017, we completed our first ARISE Centre in the Hutt Valley – a building that houses church services, offices, and events from across our church and community. Over 1,600 decisions for Christ have been made in this building, and we know there will be thousands more. The ARISE Centre also now provides us with the equity to begin other projects.
Our Whangarei campus is thriving, with incredible growth and a new service launched this year. We are blessed with land on State Highway 1, and are preparing to build an ARISE Centre for Northland. This building will have a bespoke auditorium that seats 450, beautiful café and connection spaces, and purpose-built rooms for ARISE team, Pathway, and kids.
We are putting a stake in the ground in Canterbury, purchasing property on Riccarton Road – one of the busiest roads in the South Island. This 8,000m2 piece of land lies at the heart of Christchurch, just steps away from Hagley Park. The property includes office buildings that we will renovate and lease out, and a blank back section that could house an ARISE Centre for Christchurch.
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We have gone unconditional on the purchase of this property, and paid down a deposit!
We have a heart for the hurting – to care for our community and shine God's light and love beyond the walls of the church. Our Expansion Offering funds outreach into the community; allowing us to welcome refugees, respond to mental illness, care for solo parents, host breakfast clubs and more.
Our breakfast clubs are a chance for our church family to provide practical assistance to those in need. At low decile schools across the country, we feed kids who otherwise might go without–providing them with a warm, healthy breakfast and an environment of love and care. We are now in 15 schools across the country, and plan to launch another 7 schools in the next year.
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We have launched in 7 new schools since our last Expansion Offering.
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We are now serving 1,000 breakfasts each week in 15 schools across New Zealand.
In March this year we were able to launch our first prison ministry service in Rimutaka prison, one of the nation's largest prisons. Each month our ARISE Team ministers to those in need of a second chance, bringing a message of hope, love, and redemption. Within the next year, we plan to send in two more teams to Rimutaka, and are praying for an open door to another prison.
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Prison Ministry launched in Rimutaka Prison.
Through our Storehouse, we have been able to respond to needs and bless many families in our community. We have delivered over 1,000 packages in the past year and plan to increase this in the coming year – providing assistance to every refugee family arriving in Wellington, solo parents in our church and community, and those in difficult circumstances.
We are a church that continues to move forward. We are here to expand our borders, to see revival cover New Zealand and the nations of the world. We have planted four new campuses in the last four years, and this is just the beginning.
Last year we announced our plans to launch a campus in the university city of Palmerston North. Our team has been on the ground since February, seeing incredible fruit. We plan to start Sunday services in August, and are in the midst of finding a venue, purchasing production equipment, and fitting out spaces that welcome people and make room for God to move.
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100 people in Life Groups.
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30 Life Group leaders trained up and ready to begin discipling others.
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50 Pathway graduates.
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80 people on our ARISE Team.
ARISE Conference is one of the greatest spiritual highs of our church; where people encounter God and hundreds are saved. Last year we reached capacity in Wellington, no longer able to open our doors to invite lost people to attend. We are multiplying Conference to the North and South Islands to make room for revival – believing to see hundreds, if not thousands more people find Jesus.
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ARISE Conference South begins this July, increasing our total capacity from 5,500 to 9,500.
Auckland is our next big step in building a church of influence for the nation of New Zealand. We feel a strong sense of destiny and mandate for the city of 1.7 million people. We believe that this campus launch will bring a fresh move of God to New Zealand's biggest city. We are ready to cross the Jordan once again and launch a significant campus in a significant city.
We are passionate about empowering every church in New Zealand and beyond—championing the local church and seeing pastors resourced, equipped and empowered.
We are committed to empowering church planting throughout the world. Out of the 2018 Expansion Offering we were able to invest in the work of Lifehouse Church in Japan. In a nation where few have heard the gospel, Lifehouse are seeing miracles, salvations, and life change every single week. This year's Expansion Offering will allow us to continue to sow into ministries across the world.
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Lifehouse were able to use our gift to fund:
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The launch of the Nagoya City Campus
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The launch of the new Online Campus
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The refresh of their main Tokyo Campus
Each year we get the privilege of hosting ARISE Conference for the church of New Zealand. Expansion Offering allows us to invite every senior pastor in New Zealand to attend the conference at no cost to them. It is an opportunity for the men and women of God who serve so faithfully in His house to pause, receive, and be strengthened personally.
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In 2018 we hosted 280 Senior Pastors, with 330 churches attending.
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In 2019 we are expecting to host 350 Senior Pastors, with 400 churches attending.
We are passionate about the next generation and we are committed to investing into the future of the church. This year, we hosted our first Next Generation Summit–bringing together young pastors from across the country to learn, be encouraged, and stand united. We believe the next wave of leaders will bring revival to our nation.