“Nau te rourou, Naku te rourou, Ka ora te manuhiri” - “With your basket and my basket, our people will thrive.”

This whakatauki reminds us that together we can create something greater than ourselves, and collectively we can be our best and healthiest version of ourselves. I opened my NZMWF Convention speech with the whakatauki to encourage us to work together to create a deeper and more meaningful relationship with each other and with God.

The incoming NZMWF National Executive was inducted via a virtual Convention this year. We stand before you, ready to serve you to the best of our ability as we continue the enriching work of the NZMWF. Our team will endeavour to revive and reunite our districts to continue helping those in need. In the last three years we have seen a decline in our membership numbers, and this has resulted in districts going into recess, reduced from 20 to 14. What do we need to do to reignite the passion of our work to include these districts back?

Over the following months we will share our news in Touchstone and we will write about ourselves, so you have a bit of an insight as to who we are.

This month will start with me: NZMWF President for 2021 to 2023.

Introducing Tuituivao (Tui) Salevao

I am a first generation NZ-born Samoan. I live in Auckland and I am a member of Panmure Methodist Church. I have been in NZMWF since 1989 and a member of the Mafutaga Tamaita’i Sinoti Samoa Ekalesia Metotisi Niu Sila (MTSSEMNS) – Samoan District.

My parents migrated from Samoa to support their families back in Samoa. My father came in 1951 and moved to Tokoroa to work at Kinleith mill. There he met my mother, a nurse. They married in 1960 and moved to Grey Lynn, Auckland in the mid-1960s when they started their family. My parents later purchased a house in Mt Wellington and our family started our spiritual journey at Panmure Methodist Church in 1971.

I am married with two daughters and currently work for the Ministry of Social Development where I have worked for over 30 years. I consider myself a servant and try to assist people in any capacity through my job, church and family.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.