While much of this year hasn’t happened as we expected, it has given us an opportunity to be creative. From the beginning of our New Zealand interactions with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, God has been telling me this is an opportunity to do things differently. This is an opportunity to be creative.
We serve a creative God who made us to be creative as well. Creativity brings change in our lives; many of us will have experienced doing life different in our homes, our jobs and the way we interact as a faith community. I am sure that your church, like mine, has this year taken a different approach to community and worship than has been in the past.
For us as a PK network, it became evident that necessity was the mother of invention in 2020, as some plans put in place at the end of 2019 began to fall away as lockdown unfolded. However not all plans were lost; the Christchurch PK 2020 Event was a resounding success! The one-day event created more space to interact with others and God. The men were invigorated and positive about what they experienced. It had a connected feel right from the beginning with our existing Christchurch volunteer teams working with a new team in the new St Albans venue.
Level 3 in Auckland this past month changed everything for us and we lost both the planned PK Wellington and Auckland events. One of the things I have learnt is that our ability to “pivot” and be creative depends on the strength of our existing connections and relationships. The PK Vision 2020 Online Event came together in just 13 days and it was very successful. We are intended by God to act as a community of believers and that is just what happened in this scenario. We had members of our PK community from Christchurch to Auckland taking part in the production of this amazing event. Members of the PK community from the Deep South to the Far North tuned in to hear messages for the men of this nation. Thank you to all who contributed!
The messages the keynote speakers brought had been tailor made for this Kairos moment as God spoke fresh words to them. They were messages of hope, of journey, of encouragement, that in God we as the men of this nation can influence our family, our community and ultimately our nation. If you have not yet seen PK Vision 2020 Online, I encourage you to do so, it will be well worth your time. In fact it is worth watching again. I have enjoyed watching the speakers a number of times now. Each time I watch I get something new. Watch the PK Vision 2020 Online Event speakers [here] or watch the full event [here].
We tried new ideas with the Online Event and the subsequent Zoom meeting with the speakers afterwards. We would value your feedback to help guide us as we continue to develop our PK network across this beautiful nation. Together we make a difference. Let me know your thoughts by replying to this email.
Blessings
Paul Monahan