St Anne's Pantry has continued operating during Level 3 & 4 phases of the NZ Covid-19 pandemic response. The graphic above vividly illustrates how deliveries have grown especially during April. As an essential service we have delivered grocery parcels most days with many referrals coming via the Porirua Emergency Operations Centre.

​The update report below highlights how need has grown as many  recipients of food parcels have put their hand up in the light of serious income decline through the pandemic. The Pantry has experienced an unprecedented rise in financial and other support which has ensured generous deliveries of groceries to Porirua households.

Along with other Pantries/Foodbanks nationwide, St Anne's Pantry has experienced a record level of emergency food requests during Easter week 2020.

In the midst of the Covid-19 level 4 lockdown, 45 food parcels were delivered during the week beginning Wednesday before Easter to the Tuesday after. St Anne's Pantry is one of the emergency services that the Porirua Emergency Operation Centre (Welfare) is using to meet emergency need requests.

The Pantry has benefited from its ongoing relationship with Kiwi Community Assistance (KCA) who have supplied increased quantities of groceries as other supply sources reduced during the lockdown. A generous grant from the MSD has enabled the Pantry to buy groceries in short supply and ensure that food parcels were generously supplied. In addition, donors new and old have not forgotten that St Anne's Pantry provides a much needed resource in our City at this time.

To all who have supported St Anne's Pantry during this time our heartfelt thanks is offered.

We read in the Gospel of Matthew 25:40 that such support is noticed by God,

Billy Graham

The late Dr Billy Graham is commonly recognised as one of the greatest Christian Evangelists of modern times. Many people in New Zealand acknowledge that it was his message of assurance, hope and challenge that significantly encouraged them to follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. This video (approx. 30 minutes) offers us a perspective on this man's sincere Christian faith and challenge to 20th & 21st people of all races.

​Porirua Anglicans, indeed the people of Porirua and beyond, are invited to view and hear this message between 2:30-3:00pm on Good Friday 10th April 2020 - the time when many of us associate with the death of Christ at the 9th hour (3pm) on that first Good (God's) Friday. At 3pm you are invited to tune into a discussion via Zoom (5531369442) for 20-30 minutes to unpack the Message of the Cross.

The Death of Jesus
​
​St. Luke's Gospel
23:44 Around noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until the middle of the afternoon. 45 The sun stopped shining, and the curtain in the temple split down the middle. 46 Jesus shouted, “Father, I put myself in your hands!” Then he died. 47 When the Roman officer saw what had happened, he praised God and said, “Jesus must really have been a good man!” 48 A crowd had gathered to see the terrible sight. Then after they had seen it, they felt brokenhearted and went home. 49 All of Jesus' close friends and the women who had come with him from Galilee stood at a distance and watched.

St. John's Gospel
19:28 Jesus knew that he had now finished his work. And in order to make the Scriptures come true, he said, “I am thirsty!” 29 A jar of cheap wine was there. Someone then soaked a sponge with the wine and held it up to Jesus' mouth on the stem of a hyssop plant. 30 After Jesus drank the wine, he said, “Everything is done!” He bowed his head and died.

The Love of God
​
St. John's Gospel
3:16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.

The video message concludes with an appeal from Dr Graham for us to decisively and wholeheartedly  follow the Lord Jesus Christ and with a prayer inviting God to become the Lord of my life.

If this message has impacted you in this way we would love to talk with you, pray with you and offer you the free gift of a Bible in a modern translation. Please connect with us via one of the options on our Contact Form.

Anglicans from Titahi Bay, Ranui and Porirua East joined Māori sisters and brothers in Christ at the Rota Waitoa Church in Elsdon for an Ash Wednesday evening service. The Rota Waitoa whanau welcomed us and shared a te reo Māori liturgy with us as we worshipped accompanied on guitar by Archdeacon Reverend Tiaki in a service led by Deacon Reverend Rochelle. The Holy Communion was presided over by Reverend Kura, Porirua Anglican Priest in Charge Reverend Terry preached on our identity in Christ and Titahi Bay Priest Reverend Casey led prayers. Those present were anointed with ash and oil by the clergy in the service of imposition of ashes.
Those who attended rejoiced in the opportunity to experience a service in te reo Māori and to realise our oneness in Christ. A fine evening was sealed with traditionally generous hospitality as we drank and ate sitting at tables covered with red table cloths. 

We were blessed this year to welcome and bless Lauren Dooley and her family from Ireland during the Christingle service in St Anne's. This special Christmas service uses as a decorated orange as a symbol of the world we live in that has been so influence by the light of Christ which is seen in the lit candles that are part of the Christingle that the children create during the service. To be a little pc these days we thread dried fruit to the cocktail sticks rather than sweet lollies. Otherwise the image below describes what a Christingle is.

The children and some adults present at the service are seen in the slideshow below.