Kevin Scott Banks

The last 3 days have passed like a blur. I arrived in Christchurch on Tuesday, a week after the city was devastated by the second major earthquake in the past 6 months. The latest quake has crippled the city: over 150 are dead, and the damage is estimated to be around $15 billion. Not many people are coming to Christchurch right now. Indeed, many people have simply left everything behind and fled. Despite the earthquake and the uncertainty surrounding it, I made the decision to continue with my travel plans and try to come and help out with earthquake relief.

I was able to get connected right away with a church called Grace Vineyard. They’re operating a distribution center in one of the suburbs of the city, offering basic food and survival items for free to distressed people. I just showed up and they put me to work for 8 hours a day for the past 3 days. Wow. Just wow.

Frantic. Exciting. Saddening. Inspiring. Exhausting. These words describe my experience over the last 3 days. What has impacted me the most are the stories. I stayed pretty busy stacking boxes and coordinating volunteers, but every once in a while I’d get the chance to help people out to their cars with their boxes full of essentials. I didn’t even have to ask them, they would just start telling me their stories. My heart broke over and over again. Many of them have had their houses ruined. Many are without power and water and haven’t been able to take a shower in over a week. These people are tough. Most of them drove decent cars, and it was obvious that they don’t normally need to depend on anyone for survival. But behind their dignity I could sense the desperation.

One lady came with her young daughter and son, and it was clear that she was exhausted from dealing with her son’s energy. While we were talking, she got a phone call and found out that she’d been released from $500 in student loans because of the quake. She broke down and started crying right in front of me. I told her about a free kids club where she could take her children and have just a few hours of solitude. She gave me a huge hug before she left.

Another woman told me a story about her friends who lost their son in the earthquake. He had turned 14 the day before the quake and took a bus in town to spend his birthday money. Apparently his dad had offered to give him a ride, but he chose to take the bus instead. The bus was crushed by debris and no one survived. He was their only son.

What do you say to these people?

They were so thankful, each and every one of them. As I’d walk back, I found myself trying to imagine what it must be like for them. I struggled to do that. These people have had their lives broken right before their eyes. The earthquake lasted for just 60 seconds, but the pain and destruction it caused will take years to recover from. However, through the chaos and the crying out, I’ve witnessed something remarkable. I’ve seen love in action. I’ve seen people lean on each other for help in the most difficult of times. Dozens of volunteers have showed up every day to offer their services. I’ve watched as truckload after truckload of donated goods came rolling in from all over the country. I saw a box of liquid sanitizer bottles with a hand-written sticker saying “Stay Strong, Kia Kaha” on each and every bottle.

I am moved by what I have witnessed here in Christchurch. Simply put, this has been an incredibly humbling experience.

Upon arriving in New Zealand, I made a somewhat impulsive decision to spend the summer in Tauranga, a town where I knew only one family. I heard about a guy named Jono at church, so the next Sunday, I walked right up and introduced myself. Little did I know the friendship that God had in store for me.

Ode to Jono

Mere words cannot convey

The friendship God has brought my way

An answered prayer on both ends

Has led to something beyond just friends

Brothers, we are

Through thick and thin

To challenge and push

And occasionally grin

The adventures we’ve had

I’ll always remember

Climbing mountains and camping

And U2 in November

You’ve put my well-being

In front of your own

Through treating me like family

Your generosity has shown

The blessing you’ve been

Compares to no other

You’re no pal, no buddy

You’re truly a brother

Do you have a “brother” or “sister” in your life, a friend who you’d trust your with your life? How well do you recognize and cherish their friendship?

My last 2 posts have been about the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, an amazing event that I participated in last month. There’s so much more to write about, so many more stories to tell, so great was the impression this gathering made on me. But instead of trying to tell them all, I’ll simply leave you with a quote from Sam, one of the “vision keepers” of the gathering. He was perhaps the largest and most gentle of all the Maori people I met.

“God has opened up a window to his heart, so that he can show us how much he loves us, how much he cares about the nations.
Just like the heavens declare his handiwork, so do you, so do I.”

Wow.

Also, here are a few more pictures I took from the gathering:

This gathering has transformed the way I view the world, transformed the way I view people of other nations. Do you have any similar experiences?

This is the second part in a three-part series on my experience at the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People

From my journal:

Today the WCGIP shifted from Hamilton up to Auckland for the final phase. It’s being held at the Telstra Clear Event Center, a cool-looking building designed to look like a Maori canoe. I’d driven past the building several times on my way to and from Auckland and I was curious to know what it was like on the inside. The shift to Auckland also meant that a “wero” was in order. This is a Maori tradition where one tribe comes to the land of another’s to visit. As one of the Maori leaders humorously explained, the host tribe comes out to ask “Are you here for a meal, or are we the meal?” It’s basically a ceremonial way to determine if the visiting tribe is a friend or foe. For the sake of this conference, all of the participants made up the “visiting tribe,” while the Maori people of the Auckland meeting place made up the “host tribe.” I joined the participants in the visiting tribe for this awesome spectacle.

As we approached the doors of the event center, two Maori warriors came forth, scantily clad in war costumes. They wielded hand-made weapons, chanting and moving cautiously towards our leader. After some seriously scary faces threatening advances, one of the warriors placed a small leaf on the ground and retreated. After a pause, Richard, a Native American Indian and founder of the WCGIP, picked up the leaf, confirming our peaceful visit.

The next step in this tradition was the “powhiri.” Once all the visitors had entered, the host greeted the visiting tribe. The visiting tribe’s leader then responded, and this process continued for hours! It was a pretty dry process, especially because they spoke in Maori and I couldn’t understand most of it. Fortunately, after the greeting is completed, everyone involved partakes in a giant feast! As we rose to attend the meal, the hosts greeted all 300 visitors with the traditional “hongi.” This involves shaking hands and pressing each other’s noses and foreheads together. I went through and performed the hongi with all 50 of the hosts. I must say, I am intrigued by the Maori people. Many of them are very large in size, and them men especially are built like warriors. Yet when they perform a hongi, they reveal a gentle, warm and welcoming side as they carefully press their nose to yours. It’s impossible to explain; I hope you get the chance to have a hongi with a Maori some day! I have much to learn from these people.

The rest of the day was less eventful, consisting mostly of workshops and breaks for eating. The Maori people know how to eat well and eat often. Me likey! At night, we had an inspiring concert by Cindy Ruakere. It’s a crazy story, but she’s the reason I was at this gathering in the first place. I met her months before at a church in Auckland, and if it weren’t for her telling me about the WCGIP, I wouldn’t have come.

After the music, everyone participated in a “hungi.” Different from the “hongi” greeting, a hungi is a delicious, slow-cooked meal. In this case, we had kumara, the New Zealand sweet potato. Talk about tasty! They asked us each to go and find someone who was from a different culture than us, wearing a different kind of clothing, to share our kumara with. I met Mohan, a man from Sri Lanka, and we prayed for each other and shared our kumara.

I haven’t even mentioned Ata yet, whose story I would love to share some day. God has completely transformed his life from the ground up. He was in a gang for over 20 years and spent 10 years in prison. Now he is one of the most gentle, kind and loving people I’ve ever met. He works so diligently all the time. He is incredible.

This continues to be a very eye-opening and enriching experience.

What does it mean to be authentically indigenous AND authentically Christian?

The World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People is a meeting organized by indigenous people for indigenous people which seeks to answer the question above. Founded in 1996, it’s met every other year for the last 14 years all around the world. This year the conference returned to New Zealand where it first began, and I was privileged to be a part of the gathering. In a few words, it was an incredible and life changing experience for me, a glimpse into a whole new world. I’ll be posting a few blogs to share the experience with all of you. They’re straight from my journal:

Today I arrived at the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People. They’re just wrapping up the first phase of the gathering, which is being held in Hamilton. As soon as I arrived, there were workshops taking place all over the campus. In one class, Maori people, the indigenous people of New Zealand, were teaching participants tribal dances and songs. I walked past another class where Maori men were teaching weaponry tactics. I wish I could have been in that class! I didn’t get to participate in any events today, but I did get to know the group that I will be volunteering with from YWAM Tauranga. They are a fun bunch, and we had a great discussion at dinner about the importance of elevating indigenous people groups and learning from their ways of living. We also recognized how important it is to celebrate our own identities and cultural backgrounds and be who God made us to be.

Rachel, the YWAM group leader, with one of the precious little Maori girls

Tonight there was a huge gathering that lasted for 3 hours and encompassed performances by several indigenous people groups. I thought it was an incredible night. I watched as people from Samoa, Fiji, the Phillipines, Hawaii, New Zealand, America, Canada and Greenland sang, danced, prayed, worshiped, spoke and laughed together. The marquee speaker for the night was Michael Jones, a former New Zealand rugby star renowned as much for his strong Christian Faith as he is for his strong tackling! He gave an inspiring message, encouraging us to live out our full potential for God, facing our challenges with courage.

I’m excited for the rest of this gathering. It’s already been fascinating to witness so many different cultures together in one place, loving each other and worshiping God together. Tonight’s session had to be a small glimpse of what Heaven will be like someday!


If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of the WCGIP before. But I’m curious, how much do you know about the indigenous people groups of the world?

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been studying the life of David, a character in the Old Testament of the Bible. I’m intrigued by the story of his life, and by the especially high regard God had for David. Many of us have heard the story of David and Goliath, when David valiantly defeated the giant and saved the Israelites from doom. We know that David went on to become a great king and prepare the way for the coming King of kings. We often hear about the successes in David’s life. Personally, I’ve always focused more on the fame, fortune and prosperity that David enjoyed. Somehow I’ve managed to overlook a very important part of David’s story. David endured some really, really hard times before he became king of Israel. Much can be learned from David’s difficulties.

David’s life was turned upside down on one seemingly average day. Here he was, a shepherd boy, tending his family’s flocks, when suddenly the prophet Samuel came and anointed him the next king over Israel. Soon after that, he defeated Goliath and rescued the Israelite army from the hands of the mighty Philistines. The current king, King Saul, rewarded David by appointing him over 1,000 men. It all sounds great, right? He was even invited to go and sit in the king’s palace to play his harp for the king each day. And then one day, BAM! Saul tried to kill him with a spear to the midsection. David must have thought, “Uh oh, this isn’t going to be so easy after all.” He was forced to leave his new life of fame and comfort, and even his wife, to flee for his life. This event was the catalyst for a long season of trials and hardships for David. He spent the next several years constantly running away from Saul. He was betrayed by people from each town he tried to find rest in. Even the Philistines, the Israelite’s enemies, didn’t want David on their side! If all that wasn’t enough, he came back from one battle only to find that the town where he was staying had been burned and all the women and children had been kidnapped!

Many of the Psalms, a collection of poetry and songs, reflect David’s cries to God during these difficult times in his life. One thing that remains clear is God’s hand of favor on David’s life. God gave David more and more success, despite his struggles, and as a result, Saul became more and more fearful of David. What was David’s secret? How did he persevere through such hardships? This verse in 1 Samuel chapter 30 gives us a clue: “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” When times were tough, what did David do? He didn’t try to tough it out on his own and just make it through. He turned to the real source of strength, the only one who could save him. I love David’s humility. All of us face hardships in life, and we have the choice of how to react. I want to follow David’s example when I find myself facing difficulties.

How do you react when you find yourself in a difficult time of life, when one thing after another seems to be going wrong? The same God who strengthened David is still alive today, and he is willing to provide the same strength to anyone who asks.

Three weeks ago I was becoming desperate in my search for a place to live for the summer. Then “randomly” I met Steve Pickering while working on the South Sea Vagabond sailboat and found so much more than just a place to live. The Pickerings agreed to let me board with them for summer in their magnificent house overlooking the ocean in Otumoetai. Now I am thoroughly enjoying life on Harbour Drive!

I managed to score a room with a spectacular view of the Tauranga Harbour and the Mount. I took the picture above while standing on the balcony looking back into my room. You can see the reflection of the Harbour and the Mount, pretty sweet huh? They set me up with a desk where I can get my work done while feeling the ocean breeze and taking frequent breaks to take in the beauty. Speaking of work, I’ve gotten into a good routine of working on my website design business in the mornings and helping Captain Simon work on the South Sea Vagabond in the afternoons. She got a new mast last week and we’re hoping to have her in the water very soon!

In the mornings and evenings, I’ve been exploring the local area, looking for quiet spots to spend some time reading or praying. It’s so refreshing to wake up and go for a run along the oceanfront. The other night, I rode my bike out around the estuary and found a spot to sit on the dock and watch the sun set while I read my book. I don’t know how ever I’ve survived life without being near the ocean!

By God’s grace, I was able to buy a car last month for those trips when the bike won’t suffice. That was a crazy story. My friend Jono found the car for sale and called me up. I was sitting at home on my computer when he called, and 2 hours later I sat back down in the same spot and thought, “Now what was I doing before Jono talked me into buying that car?” I bought it from a Maori man for $640, even though someone else was there ready to pay $700 for the car. He gave it to me for $60 less because I was first in line…crazy!

Around the house, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the Pickering Family. Steve works out on the boat with Simon and me and trades stocks at night. Anne is an incredible cook and keeps everyone in the house straight. They often have guests over and are very generous in sharing their house and their time. They have three kids: Rosie who is off at university, and Dan and Andrew are teenagers who love to sit and play video games all day. Did I mention that Anne’s cooking is phenomenal? It’s really been a blessing to sit down to a nice, home-cooked meal most nights.

Living with the Pickerings has also been a great way to learn more about New Zealand culture. This inevitably has allowed my American culture to come into greater focus as well. I’ve noticed many subtle differences between our cultures. For example, Kiwi’s have some interesting food traditions, such as eating ice cream with their pancakes!

I’ve observed some less subtle differences between our cultures as well, but that’s a topic for another blog post. One thing I will mention is the concept of moderation vs. excess. Living with the Pickerings has forced me to recognize areas of my life where I consume something without regard. It’s been my experience that Kiwis tend to pay more attention to how much they consume of any given thing, whether it’s food, water, or telephone calls. There’s definitely an emphasis placed on conserving these resources. It’s been a stretching lifestyle shift for me, but one that I welcome gladly.

When I look at how things have come together for me here on Harbour Drive, I can’t help but recognize how blessed I am. I definitely want to make the most of all these blessings this summer! Living here has inspired me to appreciate wherever I’m living, whether it’s overlooking the ocean in New Zealand or not. I’ve resolved to get out and explore and enjoy my surroundings no matter where I live in the future.

What’s your favorite part about the place where you live?