“The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light,
And your God your glory.
Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.”
Isaiah 60:19-20
When May first came to Hawera Baptist church, she explained that she was from Taranaki, but spent many years away in Auckland. She spoke with passion about her Maori cultural heritage and her desire to share this knowledge with others.
As May began to settle into our church and into her life back in Hawera, my husband Matthew & I decided to ask her if she would like to become part of the new Home group that we were starting. May was very keen to come along and learn more about what she believed in and to fellowship with other people at the church.
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light,
And your God your glory.
Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.”
Isaiah 60:19-20
When May first came to Hawera Baptist church, she explained that she was from Taranaki, but spent many years away in Auckland. She spoke with passion about her Maori cultural heritage and her desire to share this knowledge with others.
As May began to settle into our church and into her life back in Hawera, my husband Matthew & I decided to ask her if she would like to become part of the new Home group that we were starting. May was very keen to come along and learn more about what she believed in and to fellowship with other people at the church.
It didn’t take long for May to become a dearly loved member of our home group. She lit up so many lives with her infectious, cheeky chuckle and warm, caring nature. As we came to know each other, May began to share her story with us and told us about some of the painful experiences that she had been through, and how they had influenced many of the life choices she had made. She also shared how, through her daughter’s Youth Group diary, she came to know more about Jesus, and how this led on to her eventually deciding to be baptised as a Christian. May used to wake up early in the morning and spend a long time in prayer. She used to weep because she felt such an overwhelming sense of love from the Lord and felt deeply connected to Him during this time.
May’s life was marked with pain and many sorrows. She struggled to accept her Cultural Identity and at Home Group one day, she shared how as a child, when she felt full of despair, God gave her a special picture. She explained that, in this picture, she saw two cupped hands holding a little Maori baby and she knew that she was the little baby God was holding. The picture showed her that God loved her just as she was, even though she didn’t love who she was. This gave her comfort and hope when she thought of it years later.
May’s life did a full circle. She came back to her roots and embraced her Maori identity. She discovered who she was in Jesus and she learned how to walk in her new identity as a Maori Christian.
May was a force of nature. She was delightful, fiercely independent and had an uncontainable, bubbly personality. At times, it seemed, she lived life on the edge, walked where angels feared to tread, but this was May, our May who we got to know through home group and church. May was a precious treasure that God gave to us for what we feel was too short a time. But, we thank the Lord for this time and for the lives that she touched. We look forward to the day, when we will once again hear her laughter. Only this time ringing through the corridors of heaven’s halls .
Inge Smythe
May’s life was marked with pain and many sorrows. She struggled to accept her Cultural Identity and at Home Group one day, she shared how as a child, when she felt full of despair, God gave her a special picture. She explained that, in this picture, she saw two cupped hands holding a little Maori baby and she knew that she was the little baby God was holding. The picture showed her that God loved her just as she was, even though she didn’t love who she was. This gave her comfort and hope when she thought of it years later.
May’s life did a full circle. She came back to her roots and embraced her Maori identity. She discovered who she was in Jesus and she learned how to walk in her new identity as a Maori Christian.
May was a force of nature. She was delightful, fiercely independent and had an uncontainable, bubbly personality. At times, it seemed, she lived life on the edge, walked where angels feared to tread, but this was May, our May who we got to know through home group and church. May was a precious treasure that God gave to us for what we feel was too short a time. But, we thank the Lord for this time and for the lives that she touched. We look forward to the day, when we will once again hear her laughter. Only this time ringing through the corridors of heaven’s halls .
Inge Smythe
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