We encourage anyone who is regularly attending Bridges to consider joining a ’Home Group’ so that they can get to know others and grow in relationship with each other and with God.


                                     

The following Small Groups meet on different nights during the week... ‘Laidlaw / Matthews’ Small Group Weekly, Tuesday @ 7.30 pm ‘Roto-o-Rangi’ Small Group Weekly, Tuesday @ 7.30 pm ‘Aish’ Small Group Weekly, Wednesday @ 7.30 pm ‘Reilly’ Small Group (Group for new parents) Weekly, Tuesday @ 7.30pm ‘NO LIMITS’ Small Group 18-25 year olds Weekly, Tuesday @ 7.30 pm Youth Group Weekly, Wednesday @ 7.30 pm Graham & Lynette Aish oversee the area of home groups, so if you would like to join a home group or you would like more information please contact either Graham or Lynette on (07) 827 9939
Grow...

Our society is drowning in bad news. 

There are many problems that are prevalent (but not exclusively) among Maori in our community.  For the most part, (with notable exceptions) the wider church has been ineffective in what exists as a mission field on our backdoor.  Hopelessness, isolation, inferiority, under-achievement and despair prevail in many Maori families.  Negative influence/peer pressure among youth lead to anti social, self destructive and criminal activity.  But it isn’t hopeless!


Richard Berghan is being engaged by Synergy (Cambridge) Trust under the umbrella of Bridges Church to direct Project Arahanga.  Richard’s experience and background equip him well for working in the community to help deliver answers. 


Richard is working in connection with 24/7 youth in local schools and with other agencies in the community, yet Richard’s role will not be duplicating the efforts of other groups since Arahanga has distinctives, particularly along the lines of seeking, in the long term, ways to prevent individual casualties, rather than trying to rehabilitate them later on.

Missions & Outreach An undergirding value we try to live out in Bridges is that the whole of life is missions and outreach for a disciple of Jesus - not just activities we engage in at times. There is however an ongoing range of activities we endorse.

  1. Glenys Bichan is a member of Bridges who has established an organisation called ‘RATA’.  The RATA Teacher Support is a group of trained New Zealand teachers committed to encourage, equip and inspire untrained teachers in developing countries, so that they can confidently teach kids entrusted to them with excellence, professionalism and passion.

  2. For more information please visit the website www.rata.org.nz


  1. Peter Bichan is a member of Bridges who works for Capernwray Bible School (located just South of Cambridge) and is also actively involved in running Scripture Union camps for secondary school students over school holidays.

Youth opportunities exist both Locally and overseas.

The youth have regular opportunity to do local outreaches both in the community and outreach events run at the church.

Opportunities also exist for teams of youth/adults to go on short term mission trips.

In 2007 a team travelled to Mozambique, a team went to Fiji in 2008 and a team has just returned from Mozambique in October 2010...

being ‘light’
If you would like .... To find out about any of the above ministries To find out more about being Water Baptised? To talk to someone about a personal matter / counseling Help in areas such as financial advice / budgeting / accommodation etc Ministries_files/ARAHANGA3.pdf
Then please contact our church office ....Contact.html
Clothing Exchange

For many years Bridges has run the Clothing Exchange, as an outreach to the local community.  It offers used clothing to anyone who wishes to make use of it, ideally in exchange for used clothing that people no longer have a use for.

The Clothing Exchange is located above the church facility at Anzac Street and is open on Thursdays from 10.00 am till 2.00 pm.

For further information please contact Lynette on 07)  827 9939

Project Arahanga
Youth & Missions
Small Groups
Download Sermonshttp://sharebridges.appspot.com
Download latest newsletterARAHANGA4.pdfMinistries_files/ARAHANGA4.pdffile://localhost/ARAHANGA3-1.pdfshapeimage_19_link_0

Well – Wow!!  What an amazing time we had in Mozambique, Africa!!

A team of 11 from Bridges Church was privileged to have the opportunity to spend 3 weeks at the Iris Ministries base in Pemba, Northern Mozambique…

If you haven’t heard of Heidi & Roland Baker and their ministry both in Mozambique and in countries all across the globe, then be sure to visit their website (www.irismin.org) and have a look.

You cannot spend time in such a place and be unaffected or unchanged!  Seeing people hungry for God, saved, delivered and healed…  These things happened both on outreaches organised by Iris, as well as individuals just reaching out to those around them.  One of the highlights was a ‘bush outreach’ …a two hour drive with 25 or so people shoved on the back of a ute and off we go… haaa, and a scorpion joined us on the way back – a good thing most of us were oblivious to this fact!  On this outreach we experienced several healings with probably a lot more that we just don’t know the outcomes of…  …Murray prayed for a deaf guy who got his hearing back and there was a limp little baby with a high fever who after receiving prayer was just fine the next morning.  People just came from other surrounding villages and many gave their hearts to the Lord for the first time.

While on a walk in the nearby village, asking God to lead us, a woman approached us telling us she was sick (could make out at least some words and phrases in Portuguese) so we prayed for her and asked her if she knew Jesus…  the short of it was that she ended up giving her life to Jesus and clapping and dancing with joy!!  There are many more testimonies of things that God did!


We had involvement with the village-feeding program (where 1,400 village children are fed both the word of God and food each weekday), feeding the widows, medical and plunket clinics, visiting the prison and just loving and playing with the kids in the orphanage…

So many guys are becoming Christians in the prison that they now run a bible school in there!!  It was a very touching experience to share with these guys and pray for them.  Many of these guys will end up pastoring churches when they get out of prison – as is the testimony of quite a few of the pastors there…

Four kids (ages 4-10) were part of our team and loved every minute of the experience there… kids are incredibly adaptable and language just doesn’t seem to be a barrier for making friends!  They totally loved the dancing in church every Sunday!  An hour’s ‘high intensity African aerobics’ with another hour of worship to follow… then leading into a sermon translated 3 ways and ministry time.  It really was wonderful to be a part of that.  What a passionate people!!

We are wrecked forever for Him and trust that there will be an outflow of what we experienced in Mozambique right here in NZ….