Stories from Harmony Church 2018

23 have made decisions through Harmony Church so far this year

God is doing amazing things in our church and city! At the beginning of the year the church felt that it was a time of open doors for salvations so started having an evening service each week within which the gospel was shared. One lady came to Christ through cleaning!  She cleaned the houses of a couple of people in the church and she was then asked to clean the dance studio that is run at Harmony. One evening she went to clean while a service was on and went into the end of the service. The gospel message was being preached and she responded. She has been to church every week since. She is very excited about her newfound faith and has already started taking people to church. 6 youth became Christians through the prison ministry; juvenile youth are taken on tramps and at the end they are given a Bible and challenged to receive Jesus. One older guy became a Christian after his workmate shared the gospel with him and asked if he wanted to receive Christ. 

Corner Dairy Story

Two ladies from church built a friendship with the lady at the corner dairy and invited her to church.  She came along and heard the gospel and got saved.

Harvest at Harmony 2018

Interview with Ps Gideon Hoekendijk

 In 2017 we had a faith goal to see 50 people come to Christ at Harmony Church, which we well exceeded. We prayed and asked God for a number for 2018 and we are believing for 170 this year. We are well on track to meet this goal, much to our delight and amazement! In February we started a new evening service to provide another entry point. There is a whole new congregation developing and we are averaging around 120 people. Almost every service we see at least one person respond to the gospel. It has been very encouraging.

We believe one of the central reasons for the growth at Harmony is a strong focus on identity, helping people know who they are in Christ! We consistently emphasise God’s amazing, unconditional love, His incredible grace toward us and the importance of knowing we are completely and utterly forgiven, pure and holy in His sight. This has been critical in building a strong foundation of confidence and boldness in the lives of our people. We find that a deep understanding of our identity in Christ empowers us to say 'No' to ungodliness and 'Yes' to the flow of 'new creation life' in each of us. We are sons and daughters of God pursuing the outworking of our destiny in Christ. Experiencing His healing and restoration encourages us to step out and share with others!

Every service consists of four things: preaching the word of God, connecting with God in worship, sharing testimonies, and making room to hear from God through gifts of prophecy and inspired words or songs. If anyone gives a testimony of healing, with the leaders’ support they are encouraged to pray for others in that service for healing. If anyone gives a testimony of financial provision, they are encouraged to pray for those with financial needs. In every service we make sure there is an opportunity for people to commit their lives to Christ and we have been delighted to see responses almost every week!   

Another reason for our growth is that every believer in our church is formally anointed with oil and commissioned for service out into the community. We focus on recognising and championing the gifts on each person’s life and provide guidance and encouragement as they are released into ministries in the church and out in the marketplace, and we train them to share their faith.

We are continually exploring creative ways to connect people to Jesus through daily life. We encourage intentionality in developing friendships with people, like the lady at the corner dairy, the cleaner, or our workmates and inviting them to church. Some are involved in prison ministry, street ministry, ‘international connect ministry' (reaching migrants), and running school camps for under privileged children. We may get up to a hundred children at camps with many non-Christians present who hear the gospel and get an opportunity to respond.

Many new believers are bringing their friends and family to church often resulting in a flow-on effect of new people coming to Christ. We also have people just turning up off the street.  Many who make decisions stay, or else link with another church. Discipling of new believers takes place in 35 life groups around our city.

As a church we love the privilege of partnering with God in what He is doing in Christchurch. We are excited about what the future holds and love to connect and work together with other churches to reach our city for Christ!