New Zealand

Far East/Asia

Year opened: 1985

The Polynesian Maori resided in New Zealand for more than 1000 years before the British colonized the nation in 1840. Land wars erupted, and the Maori were defeated. England granted independence to New Zealand in 1907. During the past 20 years the government has worked to transform the economy from an agrarian society to a free-market economy. This shift has increased incomes and brought New Zealand to compete in the global market, yet many have been left desolate by the changes.

Of New Zealand’s four million inhabitants, 69.8% are European and only 7.9% are indigenous Maori. Fifty-three percent of the people adhere to some sort of Christian faith, including Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Pentecostal. Forty-seven percent of the population follows other religions or are atheist.

The Mission Society partners with Wycliffe Bible Translators in New Zealand. These missionaries minister at the regional office of Wycliffe in New Zealand, as well as continue work on the Aiwo language translation project in Papua New Guinea.

Prayer Requests

• Pray for God to raise up godly leaders to serve in the New Zealand Parliament.
• Pray for the Christians who are already serving in Parliament, that God will fill them with both wisdom and courage.
• Praise God for the good cooperation between the various mission agencies in New Zealand. Pray for God to provide good leadership for Missions Interlink, the inter-agency network which links more than a dozen different mission agencies in the country.