New Zealand

A. Introduction

South Island and the North Island, are separated by the Cook Strait. The country covers an area of 270,534 km2, which is equivalent to the size of the United Kingdom. The climate is a southern temperate ocean climate, which means it’s cool and wet in winter and not very hot in summer. The four seasons are——spring: September-November, summer: December-February, autumn: March-May, and winter: June-August. In September 2018, the statistical population has reached 4.9 million. It is expected to reach 5 million by the end of 2019 or 2020. Caucasians account for 80-90% of the total population, of which most of them are British descendants, and the aborigines are Maori. Auckland is located on the North Island and is the largest city in the country. Christchurch is a metropolis in the South Island. Wellington is the capital city of the country. New Zealand is one of the independent countries of the British Commonwealth. The economy of New Zealand is prosperous and society and politics are stable.

B. Religion

There is freedom of religion in New Zealand. Christianity is the dominant religion, including the Anglican Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and other churches. Religions in New Zealand have become diversified. The early inhabitants were all Christian; however, the Christian population has reduced enormously in the past decade. Four out of ten New Zealanders are no longer affiliated with any organized religious group. Christianity is affected the most and it loses lots of believers in all denominations.

Four years ago, statistics showed that churches in New Zealand have lost 196,000 believers in the past seven years. At the same time, the number of people without any religious belief exploded to 1.6 million (that’s an increase of 338,000). Among the major churches, the Anglican Church lost the most members (100,000 people), the Presbyterian Church lost 70,000, and the Catholic Church lost 16,000. Only the members of the Adventist and the Evangelical denominations increased slightly. The members of Christianity in general showed a steady decline.

Today the population who believe in Christianity has fallen from 69% (in 1991) to 43%. The number of people without religious beliefs has increased to 40%. The rest of the population are Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Spiritualists and New Century religions, and Judaism.

In recent years, the increase in immigration has gradually reduced the Christian ratio. On the contrary, the number of Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims have increased. The increase in non-Christian religious members reflects recent and future trends.

C. The development of the True Jesus Church

Auckland Church

In October 1989, the first family moved to Auckland from Taiwan. Eight households from Taiwan migrated to Auckland in the following year, so we started to have regular services. After 1990, more believers migrated to Auckland and the members in-creased continuously. Therefore, the church was established and registered with the government officially. In the beginning, we held services at the members’ places. Then a school hall was rented for services later on. We purchased the current chapel in 1996. On April 19, 2003, Auckland Church was dedicated. It has been more than 14 years since the first family moved in, and about seven years since the purchase of the church building.

At present, Auckland Church has 267 members. We are facing the issue of branching out. We have established the North Shore Prayer House and the Western District Prayer House to hold Sabbath service respectively. This helps us ease the restrictions on the number of vehicles allowed in Auckland Church carpark and also helps with the development and pioneering work of these areas.

East Auckland Church

The members in Auckland Church reached 180 in 2007. However, only 155 occupants were allowed in Auckland Church by the City Council.

The congregation agreed in the AGM for the Church Council to expedite plans of branching out on February 5, 2007.

The construction permit was approved on March 31, 2012.

East Auckland Church held the church dedication on October 12, 2014, with almost 100 members at the time.

When East Auckland Church was established, the grace of God made the impossible possible and turned disappointment into thanksgiving. During the dedication, God also added a family of eight newly baptized members to East Auckland Church. There are now 145 believers.

Christchurch Church

In 1989, two families from Taiwan immigrated to Christchurch. They immediately began Sabbath family services. This was the start of Christchurch Church. In 1992, the auditorium of Wharenui Primary School was rented as a place of worship. In April 1993, a wool auction house was purchased as the church building, and the church dedication was held in 1994. The church is only 1.5 km from the city center. Main bus lines pass in front of the church, so transportation around the area is convenient. On February 22, 2011, a major earthquake struck Christchurch. 

Most of the buildings in the city center were destroyed. Our main chapel was also damaged. We are currently reconstructing the main chapel. We have 119 believers in Christchurch church now.