Church chips in for Te Nikau wheels
Addiction service now has a new van thanks to locals’ generosity
When Freedom Life — Te Nikau put the word out that it was in need of a new mini-bus, Connect Church’s congregation knew they had to help.
Operating since 1999 and run by Peter and Mary Carrington, Te Nikau is a residential addictions recovery programme that aims to facilitate change in men and women struggling with dependent and/or addictive living, to constructive living. It uses Christian principles, a therapeutic family environment and professional application of recovery principles to help individuals create a lasting change, free of addictive and compulsive behaviours.
A mini-bus is kept on the premises and used to transport students as needed.
Te Nikau has never had a brand new vehicle and the one it had been using was very old and on its last legs.
Connect Church has financially partnered with Te Nikau for many years and decided this was an area it could really help the service in, but additional support would be needed from the church congregation to do so.
With a goal of being in the position to purchase a brand new mini-bus, the church put forward $25,000 and asked for any donations people felt they could give.
Through an outpouring of generosity $40,000 was raised in total and a brand new, 11 seater mini-bus was purchased.
“It was so exciting to help make the dream a reality” Pastor Adam White said.
Peter said: “As a charity, dependent on donations to accomplish the work we do, we are so grateful to Connect Church and its congregation in supporting us for many years, but particularly so with this mini-bus, as at this time we had no funds at all available to replace our 20 yearold van that was no longer useable.
About Connect Church
Connect Church is a Christian church located in Paraparaumu on the Ka¯piti Coast.
Founded in 1985, Connect is led by husband and wife team Pastor Adam White and Pastor Anita White.
One of Ka¯piti’s largest churches, Connect has an active congregation of more than 500 members and is part of the 70 New Life churches that have a combined membership of 10,000 people across New Zealand.