Year 10 students spent a day getting to know our whanau at Arowhenua Marae

Christ calls us to know one another more deeply, to build stronger bonds of community based on love and understanding. One way to do this is to spend time listening and learning about what life is like for others. This was the focus of the Year 10 retreat for 2018.

 The theme of the day was Whanaungatanga - Love your Neighbour. The day began with prayer asking God to open our hearts and minds to those we meet, and to see Christ in the face of the other person.

We have all driven past the limestone memorial and urupa (cemetery) on the road to Temuka, but on retreat we were going to go down that road and experience a slice of life on the Marae.

Students took part in a formal Powhiri, learnt about the tikanga of flax harvesting and created their own flax puawai (flower), toured the Marae grounds with manager Gwen Bower, spent time at Arowhenua Maori school, delivered their own short Mihi, and learnt some actions with rakau sticks.

It was the first year we have taken students on this retreat and we hope to develop further connections with the community at Arowhenua into the future, as we learn and experience what it means to love our neighbour.