Do you see what I see?

The Latin term adventus means "arrival" or "coming," particularly the coming of something having great importance. The focus of the Methodist Mission Southern’s work prepares our clients for the coming of something that will greatly impact their lives. A better future. By providing support with our broad range of evidence-based services, we provide support for the aspirations of those who have suffered struggles, some inevitable, many regrettable, and in doing so we are giving hope for a positive future.
Change That Works: enough support and challenge for you to risk a better future.

We listen to the same words of Christmas carols year after year, but do we have the same understanding? Are we really listening?

A recent attendee of the Mission’s Parenting Through Separation course commented on “how valuable the course had been to her in understanding where her former partner was in the separation process. She had initiated the separation and had already gone through a lot of the emotional process. She was looking for them to be able to communicate freely and couldn’t understand why he was being, in her opinion, “difficult”. The course gave her a much better understanding that for the one left behind this does not come as quickly and each person has their own process to travel.”

Do you hear what I hear?

Christmas carols, of course, tell the story of the Nativity and the birth of Jesus Christ, the words of the hymn O-Come, O-Come Emmanuel originally sung in Latin, with roots in the 8th/9th Centuries, translated in 1861, and is based on Matthew 1:23. We sing “Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery”. One of our youth transition house residents reflected “I had got into some pretty bad situations when away (from the house) and didn’t realise how well I had been cared for while at the house."

Do you know what I know?

We Three Kings was written by Rev. John Henry Hopkins Jnr in 1857 and the words seem as relevant today as in the time they were written. We are still a society that is striving to support people to live the life Jesus intended for us. “Still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light.”

The Mission’s work encompasses that guiding towards a better future with our early childhood services, self-regulation, and oral language programmes, youth transition housing, Young Mums’ housing, client support services, sustaining tenancies, parenting programmes, driver licence training, and capability building initiatives for other social service providers.

“Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.” are rich and meaningful words to Adolphe Adam’s (1803–1856) O Holy Night. Kenneth Kovacs writes “Jesus’ birth demonstrates definitively for the world that the soul has found its worth, that with his birth the soul felt, knew, acknowledged, accepted its worth, its value.”

The value and worth of Methodist Mission Southern’s programmes to individual, family and whanau within the community are heard in the ‘stories’ we share each month through our newsletters. We support and alleviate some of the well-known pressures currently faced in New Zealand with housing affordability, homelessness, social isolation, mental health and well-being, material hardship, family violence, sexual health issues, addiction issues, and the ongoing effects of COVID mean that many whānau are struggling to lead healthy, fulfilling dignified lives. Our vision is of a safe, caring, and sustainable society where every citizen is valued and respected, and enjoys an equal opportunity to lead a fulfilled life.

Kenneth Kovacs reiterates that each and every one of us is valued and respected. “When we sing Joy to the World, we are to remember that we are the joy of God’s world. We all matter. The birth of Jesus means that being born, being human, matters, has value, is of inestimable worth. Humanity matters. — God’s glory is known. It seems to me that this is integral to what we celebrate at Christmas.”

A young mum struggling without whanau support is resident in our Waihopai Young Mums’ House. “nervous and anxious young 19-year-old YM who has 8-month-old twin boys.. wanting to continue with education but found herself in a situation where it seemed impossible. She is now thriving as are her boys! We have her connected to the young parents’ program at MYPLC Surry Park where she will continue with her Level 3 qualifications. We are just 2 weeks in but we are on the way to helping the YM become the best mum aspires to be.”

Do you hear what I hear? Is a relatively modern carol, based loosely on the Nativity as told in the Gospel of Matthew, however, it was written in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. It is a message of peace.

Which hymns will you (really) hear this Christmas? What words will catch your attention and focus? May you hear meaning in the words of the carols/hymns you sing this Advent, and may they lead you in preparation, and hope for not only ourselves but for hope, growth, and change in those who are lost, those who are last, and those who are the least.

“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20)

“He will bring us goodness and light"

We wish all our supporters a blessed Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
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Contact Julie julier@mmsouth.org.nz