THE CHURCH IN WELLINGTON
258 The Terrace
Wellington
New Zealand
12 May 2016
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CHURCHES
Dear saints
We would like to inform you that the church in Wellington, New Zealand, has signed a contract to purchase a property for the use of the church. This is the answer to many years’ of prayer from a burden within the saints for a facility suitable for the church’s present and future needs. On Friday 29 April, under the Lord’s sovereign arrangement and in fellowship with some visiting brothers, a suitable property was identified situated at 82 Woodburn Drive, Tawa, Wellington (“Woodburn”). The next day we signed an offer to purchase for NZ$1.4 million. The vendor rejected our offer, as she had previously rejected four other offers from prospective buyers which were only marginally less than our offer. The vendor was insisting on at least $1.45m. That night we prayed some more. Then within one hour of our prayer we were informed that the vendor had changed her mind and had accepted our offer.
The next day, the Lord’s Day, we presented the property to the saints in a combined meeting of the churches in Wellington and in Lower Hutt (a neighbouring city). At the time the church in Wellington had around $890 in the property account. The deposit of $140,000 was due for payment on Wednesday 4 May. Following that meeting, the saints pledged an amount of $186,000 for the purchase. By Wednesday the balance in the property account was $158,000. We feel that the response of the saints in this way is the Body’s confirmation of the Lord’s provision and His leading in the purchase of this property.
Woodburn is situated centrally to the four cities which make up the Wellington region – Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Porirua and Upper Hutt.
This letter of fellowship backgrounds the burden; it seeks to open fellowship and provide the Body with an opportunity to participate in the grace for the completion of the purchase by the settlement date 1 July 2016, as the Lord leads.
Burden
Wellington as the capital city of New Zealand needs a strong visible presence of the Lord’s testimony, representative of the demographic mix. A pleasant, appealing, strategically located facility is critical to this. It should also enable future proofing for the coming decades and generations. It should also provide a base for blending in four adjoining cities – Wellington, Lower Hutt, Porirua and Upper Hutt, and the wider lower North Island region. The property meets all of these needs. It can immediately seat around 100 saints, and provide for functioning in the service of the church. In the medium term, low cost alterations potentially enable seating for another 50 people. In the long term there is room to build a meeting hall able to seat about 500 saints, with serving facilities for children’s holiday programmes.
Woodburn is situated very strategically for the greater Wellington region in the suburb of Tawa. It is around 2 kilometres from Woodburn to the Tawa interchange with State Highway 1, the main road north of Wellington. It is a 15-minute drive to both central Wellington and to Lower Hutt. Porirua is about 10 minutes away; Upper Hutt is about 40 minutes away.
Tawa is a suburb with many young families, and new housing areas are being rapidly developed in neighbouring suburbs. Thus Woodburn provides a critically important focus for the church in fostering the gospel work and the serving functions of all the saints.
Woodburn comprises a 1-hectare lot (2.47 acres) and a modern house of 432 square metres (4,650 square feet). There are carparks for around 22 cars.
Brief Outline of the Lord’s Recovery in Wellington
In the early 1980s the testimony of the church became established in Wellington until at present around 60 to 80 saints regularly meet. Many of the saints are established young families (most are graduates of the full-time training), and we have a large number of young children and some high schoolers. The church in Wellington and the church in Lower Hutt meet together once a month for the Lord’s Day meeting and the prayer meeting, and they have a very close association and a sweet fellowship.
Current Situation
In 1989, the churches in New Zealand and some overseas contributed funds to purchase a large house at 258 The Terrace (“The Terrace”), in the central city, for the church in Wellington. The Terrace is strategic to the Campus work, situated just 4 minutes’ walk from the Victoria University Campus (15,000 students). Massey University campus is a 15-minute walk. The campus work commenced through the full-time serving in the early 1990s.
The Terrace has been used by the Lord over the years as a meeting facility for the saints and for the campus work. The House is ideal for the ongoing campus work and provides accommodation for some young campus-based sisters. A number of new students have been added through the campus work based in the house. The Terrace is invaluable and strategic to the campus work into the future, and for this reason must be kept by the church. The church, however, has outgrown the Terrace as a meeting place. We have since moved to a school hall as a temporary measure to accommodate the Lord’s Day meeting, high schoolers and children’s meetings.
Key features of Woodburn summarised:
- Woodburn is on 1 hectare (2.47 acres) of land
- The house is 432 m2 (4,650 sq feet)
- Six bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (4 toilets)
- Garage (around 100 m2 or 1,000 ft2) attached to the house that can seat around 100 people
- Sealed car parks for 22 cars
- Lounges and rooms that can be used for children’s and high schoolers’ meetings
- Situated in Tawa, approximately 15 minutes’ drive from Wellington central, close to the intersection of the main northern highway and the future connecting highway from Lower Hutt
- Close to existing and new housing areas with young families
- Building site for a future meeting hall that could seat around 500 people
Floor plan of existing house showing proposed seating arrangement in the current garage.
Fellowship in the Body
The church in Wellington will continue to pray and petition the Lord to release the funds to complete the purchase of this property. We need $1.2M to complete the purchase on the settlement date 1 July 2016. The financial resources of the saints here are very limited, and we feel to open this need to the Body in a spirit of fellowship. We ask that the saints pray for this need, and for this property to be a real blessing to the church in Wellington and to the Body.
We look to the Lord and trust in His faithfulness that the amount required to complete settlement of the purchase will be released by 1 July 2016.
We enclose the details of the church bank account if any churches or saints feel to give towards the purchase of this property.
Bank account name: The Church in Wellington Trust Board
Branch and Account number: 01-0504-0029157-04
Bank name and address: ANZ Bank, Courtney Place, Wellington, New Zealand
Swift Code: ANZBNZ22
Routing number (if required): 010504
Your brothers on behalf of the church in Wellington
Bernard Healy bernard.j.healy@gmail.com
Luke van Erpers Roijaards luke.w.ver@gmail.com
Shaun Broadley sdbroadley@gmail.com
Peter Ryan jpr0018@gmail.com
惠灵顿召会
258 The Terrace, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
至众召会的一封敞开的信
亲爱的圣徒们
我们想告知你们，惠灵顿召会已经签署了一份购买供召会使用的房产合同。这是多年来圣徒们在为购买房产供召会现今和未来的需要这事上祷告的答应。4月29日（周五）在主的主宰安排下和与一些来访弟兄们的交通中，我们找到了位于82 Woodburn Drive, Tawa, Wellington (以下简称“Woodburn”)的房产。第二天，我们出价140万纽币。卖主拒绝了我们的出价，因为她之前已经拒绝了其他四位潜在买主，他们出价略低于我们的出价。卖主坚持要价145万纽币。那天晚上我们有了更多的祷告。然后，在我们祷告不到一个小时内，我们被告知，卖主已经改变了主意要接受我们的出价。
第二天是主日，我们在惠灵顿与下哈特市（邻近城市）的合堂聚会中向圣徒们介绍了预要购买的房产。当时惠灵顿召会在此房产的帐户中大约只有890纽币。14万纽币保证金必须在5月4日（周三）付清。会后，我们从圣徒们收到了总计18万6千纽币的奉献心愿单。到周三，我们在此房产的帐户余额变成15万8千纽币。我们觉得圣徒如此的响应是身体对主的供应的确认，也是主对于购买此房产的带领。
（Woodburn包括1公顷（2.47英亩）的土地和432平方米（4650平方英尺）的现代住宅。） 该房产位于惠灵顿市接连周边下哈特市、波里鲁瓦市和上哈特市。
这封信的交通的负担是：寻求借着在身体中敞开交通，在主的带领下为身体提供一个分于神恩典的机会，在2016年7月1日完成购买。
负担
新西兰的首都惠灵顿需要有主强并有多元种族组合的见证。一个愉快、有吸引力、处战略位置的房产是至关重要的。它也应该能够适应今后数十年和下几代的未来发展。此房产也应该能够为了惠灵顿、下哈特市、波里鲁瓦市、上哈特市这四个相邻城市，以及更广泛的北岛南部地区， 提供相调的地点。该房产满足所有这些需求。它可以立即容纳约100位圣徒，并为召会各项服事提供了场所。从中期来看，低成本的改建可多容纳另外50人。从长远来看，增建大厅可多容纳另外500位圣徒，另有优良的服事设施供儿童假期活动使用。
Woodburn处于大惠灵顿地区中非常有战略性的位置的Tawa郊区。从Woodburn到Tawa立体交叉道才2公里，经由1号国道（惠灵顿以北的主干道）。从那到惠灵顿中部或下哈特市都只需要15分钟车程。从那到波里鲁阿市需要约10分钟车程；到上哈特市需要约40分钟车程。
在Tawa郊区有许多年轻的家庭，而新的住房地区在邻近郊区也正在迅速发展。因此Woodburn为召会在推动福音工作上和在所有圣徒的尽功用上都至关重要。
主在惠灵顿之恢复的简述
在1980年代初期，召会的见证在惠灵顿建立起来，如今约有60至80位圣徒正常聚会。 许多圣徒都是已建立的年轻家庭（大多数是全时间训练的毕业生），我们也有一大批幼儿和一些高中生。惠灵顿召会和下哈特召会每月有集调的主日和祷告聚会。两处的召会有密切的联系和甜美的交通。
目前的状况
在1989年，新西兰的众召会和一些海外的召会奉献款项为惠灵顿召会在惠灵顿中心城区的258, The Terrace购得了一栋大房子（以下简称“The Terrace”）。The Terrace为校园工作处战略位置，因为它距离维多利亚大学校园（1万5千名学生）仅有4分钟的步行路程。它距离梅西大学校园也只有15分钟的路程。校园的工作是在90年代初借着全时间服事开始的。
The Terrace多年来为圣徒聚会和着校园的工作为主使用。The Terrace对持续不断的校园是非常合适的，并为几位以校园为中心的年轻姊妹提供住宿。借着以The Terrace为基地的校园工作，有许多大学新生被带进召会生活。The Terrace对于校园工作的未来不仅是无价的，也是具有战略性的，因此召会必须保留它。然而，召会聚会人数已超过The Terrace所能容纳的。作为一种临时措施，我们已经把主日聚会、高中生聚会、和儿童聚会场所搬到一所学校的礼堂。
WoodBurn的主要特点概括如下：
- 土地面积1公顷（2.47英亩）
- 房屋面积为432平方米（ 4650平方英尺）
- 六间卧室和3间浴室（ 4个卫生间）
- 车库（约100平方米或1000平方英尺）连接到房子，可容纳100人左右
- 停车场可停22辆车
- 休息室，客房，可用于儿童和高中生的聚会
- 位于Tawa，距离惠灵顿中心约15分钟车程，靠近北边高速路的路口，将来会与下哈特的高速相连。
- 靠近已有的和新的房源区的年轻家庭
- 可用于未来聚会厅建设的地块可以容纳500人左右
在身体里的交通
惠灵顿召会将继续祷告，祈求神来释放资金，以完成购买该房产。我们需要在2016年7月1日前筹得120万纽币以完成购买。在这里的圣徒的财物资源是有限的，我们觉得需要在交通的灵里，把此需要交通给身体。我们请圣徒们为此需要祷告，愿此房产对惠灵顿召会和身体成为真正的祝福。
我们仰望神并且相信，以他的信实，要完成购买所需的金额能在2016年7月1日前得着释放。
如果任何召会或圣徒愿意为购买此房产有奉献，附上的是召会银行账户的详细信息。
| 开户人姓名: | The Church in Wellington Trust Board |
| 账号: | 01-0504-0029157-04 |
| 银行名称和地址: | ANZ Bank, Courtney Place, Wellington, New Zealand |
| 银行代码: | ANZBNZ22 |
| 汇款路径号(如需要): | 010504 |
代表惠灵顿召会的弟兄们
| Bernard Healy | bernard.j.healy@gmail.com |
| Luke van Erpers Roijaards | luke.w.ver@gmail.com |
| Shaun Broadley | sdbroadley@gmail.com |
| Peter Ryan | jpr0018@gmail.com |
